Diagnostic error

Health Management Glossary

Patient Safety

Definition. A diagnostic error is a missed, delayed or wrong diagnosis, or a failure to communicate a diagnosis to the patient.

Explanation

Diagnostic errors are common and often harmful, but they are harder to measure than treatment errors because they are recognised late. The WHO Global Patient Safety Report identifies diagnostic safety as a growing area of attention (World Health Organization, 2024).

Causes include cognitive biases, poor test follow-up, communication gaps and system pressures. Remedies include decision support, second opinions, structured feedback and patient involvement in diagnosis.

Related concepts

Medical error Human factors Clinical decision support system Adverse event

Read on The Health Topics

• Assuring Safety Across Clinical Processes

References

World Health Organization. (2024). Global patient safety report 2024. World Health Organization.

Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Diagnostic error. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/diagnostic-error/

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