The statistics about errors in medical reasoning are sobering. The correct diagnosis is missed or delayed in up to 14% of acute admissions (J Gen Intern Med 2005; 20: 334-339). If the diagnosis is correct, up to 43% of patients do not receive recommended care (doi: 10.5694/mja12.10510), and about $800 billion — nearly one-third of all health care spending — is wasted on unnecessary diagnostic tests, procedures and extra days in hospital (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-overtreatment-idUSTRE81F0UF20120216). Wilson and colleague’s landmark analysis of the cause of adverse events in the Australian health care system reported that almost half of reported adverse events involved errors of reasoning (MJA 1999; 170: 411-415).
Med J Aust 2012; 197 (3): 129.
