I am a sixty-three-year old breast cancer survivor, It has been more than six years since my episode with the disease. Last fall, I had follow-up scan and was informed that the cancer had metastasized to my lung. As a result, I would need additional tests and biopsies. Naturally, I was in shock from the news. After two months of multiple CT scans and painful procedures, doctors reported that the “nodule” had disappeared and concluded that the condition was simply an infection.
Today, me and my husband are trying to recover emotionally and financially, since many of the unnecessary tests were not reimbursed by my health plan -- it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't catch 22.
Where does the fault lie in all this? If my initital study had been read by a lung diagnostic specialist, instead of the general radiologist who looked at it, I think there would have been an increased likelihood of an accurate diagnosis the first time. We just assume that diagnostic results are definitive -- but it is really a question of interpretation, skill and experience.
http://www.yourmisdiagnosis.com/
Lobby Congress to mandate credentials to practice medical transcription. Too many tragedies occur due to records transcribed by weak MTs or speech recognition technology when they are not edited by credentialed MTs who are actively engaged in risk management. ASK IF YOUR RECORDS ARE ALWAYS TRANSCRIBED BY CREDENTIALED MTs. Read your record. Strip the identifying information and put your findings here. Consumers can curtail this growing healthcare problem.
Your Watchdog
Fewer Medical Records Errors Save Lives! Let's Make it Happen!
About Me
- Diana Gish, CMT AHDI-F
- I have worked in healthcare documentation for 30 years. The 8th leading cause of death in the USA is due to medical errors (100,000 people a year). Many medical errors are due to mistakes in the written medical record--what you said or did not say on presentation, what you were treated for, what you were treated with, what you were and were not told, what your diagnosis was, etc. The death of 100,000 people each year is equivalent to a city the size of Green Bay being wiped off the map every year (or Burbank, California, or Cambridge, Massachusetts). This is roughly equivalent to an almost full DC-10 or 747 jumbo jet aircraft crashing into the sea every single day of the year! Isolated consumers need to unite to READ YOUR MEDICAL RECORD. Expect it to reflect accurate information. If it does not, report it. Report it to Joint Commission and to the hospital patient advocate. Report it to agencies that provide funding for healthcare institutions. Report it to legislators and news reporters. Report it here. Don't blog? Send it to me and I will post it for you. One of us will be the next victim.
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