How often emergency departments miss diagnoses and how that affects patients and costs
The Epidemiology of Diagnostic Error in Emergency Care in the United States and the Association with Patient Outcomes and Healthcare Costs
This project looks at how often emergency departments miss or delay diagnoses for dangerous conditions and how those mistakes affect patient harm and healthcare costs.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11144942 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will analyze representative national insurance claims and billing records from U.S. emergency departments to find cases where an initial diagnosis was missed, delayed, or changed. They will measure how often diagnostic errors occur for high-risk emergency conditions and identify the common symptoms tied to those errors. The team will link diagnostic problems to patient outcomes such as complications, readmissions, or death, and to subsequent healthcare spending. They will also study patient, clinician, and hospital factors that increase the risk of missed diagnoses to point toward targeted improvements.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People whose emergency department visits are recorded in U.S. claims data—especially those presenting with high-risk symptoms like chest pain, stroke signs, sepsis indicators, or sudden severe pain—are the types of cases analyzed.
Not a fit: Patients whose visits are not captured in the included claims databases (for example, uninsured individuals or care outside the datasets) may not be represented and won't directly benefit from this analysis.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help hospitals and policymakers identify where diagnostic mistakes happen and guide changes that prevent harm and reduce costs.
How similar studies have performed: Smaller, single-hospital and regional studies have documented diagnostic errors in EDs, but applying a national-claims approach at this scale is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Burke, Laura G — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Burke, Laura G
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.