Introduction
Radiologists play an important role in diagnosing various medical cases, which comes with a challenge that can result in malpractice. Medical malpractice is the act or omission by medical professionals during the treatment of patients that diverges from the accepted code of practice in the medical field and causes injury to the patients (Alexandrova, Shapekova & Fügen, 2018). Medical malpractice is a common occurrence and the leading cause of death in the United States (Regev & Ser, 2019). Medical imaging and other radiology operations are vital to medical interventions as they contribute to medical diagnostics.
Therefore, radiology’s missed diagnosis can greatly impact patient care outcomes. Medical imaging is also important in treating diseases such as cancer. According to Tarkiainen et al. (2021), the incidences of injury from radiologist account for 1 percent of the total injuries in hospitals, and 35 percent of these injuries can be prevented. These incidences can lead to inaccurate diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, physical injuries, or unsuccessful treatment. Any patient visiting a hospital has the right to safe and beneficial examination; therefore, it is important to investigate the potential causes and impacts of missed diagnoses in radiology.
Causes of Missed Diagnosis in Radiology
Errors occur in radiology due to poor observation and incorrect interpretation of images, among other causes. Observing errors are due to observers’ errors and can be categorized as scanning, recognition, and decision-making errors (Pinto et al., 2016). Another cause of malpractice in radiology is the poor interpretation of radiological images. The errors in the interpretation of the images occur mainly during film reading. This can lead to an incorrect diagnosis, leading to inaccurate treatment, or ignoring a disease. Interpretation errors in radiology are grouped into two major categories; cognitive and perceptual.
Cognitive errors are rare and are committed by radiologists who lack the necessary experience or make mistaken judgments. In contrast, perceptual errors are the common type in radiology and account for about 80 percent of radiology malpractices (Pinto et al., 2016). Radiologists also contribute to diagnosis by timely and accurately communicating with physicians through the report. Therefore, failure to timely communicates with a doctor in a clinically appropriate manner is part of malpractice in radiology.
The radiologist is responsible for preparing radiology reports which act as a tool for communication between them and the doctor. The report should include the radiologist’s name, date, time, name of the patient, and the interpretation result from the examination. These results usually control what happens next to the patient. In some recent reviews of medical malpractice claims in the United States, radiology was ranked at position eight with frequent malpractice-related specialties (Tarkiainen et al., 2021). It was estimated that approximately 3 out of 4 cases against diagnostic radiologist asserts that errors in the interpretation of the images resulted in missed diagnosis.
Effects of Missed Diagnosis
Radiology mistakes can often harm the patient, leading to legal battles. In the United States, 1 in every 2 radiologists will be involved in radiology-related claims due to malpractice (Harvey et al., 2016). The radiology malpractice cases have a high chance of succeeding, seen the mistakes made by the radiologist are frequently easy to notice, and damages are often serious. Besides legal battles, radiology malpractices such as delayed diagnosis can have devastating patient health outcomes.
Patients are usually referred to x-rays, MRI, or CT scans within a set time frame, depending on the need for radiological assessment. Sometimes delays in referring a patient and poor communication between departments and the specialists result in a missed diagnosis. Missed diagnosis, as explained earlier, can also originate from clinicians who review the images. This inappropriate interpretation of the images can result in increased inaccurate treatment, delays in diagnosing diseases such as cancer, and rustling into deaths that could have been avoided (Busby, Courtier & Glastonbury, 2018). Timely diagnosis is vital, and delays due to poor diagnosis can be and devastating to patients and their families.
Prevention of Errors in Radiology
The problem of missed diagnosis, tantamount to malpractice in radiology, is not unusual. There are several errors committed by radiologists that are preventable throughout the process. Each error committed represents a missed opportunity for earlier diagnosis and treatment, which can, in turn, result in delays in treatment. The problem or errors in radiology cannot be solved by only educating the practitioners but also by including other intervention errors (Pinto et al., 2016). In the radiology department, malpractice can be reduced by continuously training the radiologist and improving the systems used. The better system in radiology is comprised of improved working conditions for the practitioners, equipment changes to avoid accidental errors, good communication between radiologists and the clinicians
Conclusion
Medical malpractice constitutes the act of omission that deviates from the medical codes of practice. Medical malpractice across healthcare segments, including radiology, has a negative impact on patients. Errors occur in radiology due to poor observation and incorrect interpretation of images. Radiology mistakes can often harm the patient, leading to legal battles. Besides legal battles, radiology malpractices such as delayed diagnosis can have devastating patient health outcomes.
References
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Busby, L. P., Courtier, J. L., & Glastonbury, C. M. (2018). Bias in radiology: The how and why of misses and misinterpretations. Radiographics, 38(1), 236. Web.
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Regev, G. S., & Ser, A. M. (2019). Breast cancer medical malpractice litigation in New York: The past 10 years. The Breast, 46, 1–3. Web.
Tarkiainen, T., Turpeinen, M., Haapea, M., Liukkonen, E., & Niinimäki, J. (2021). Investigating errors in medical imaging: Medical malpractice cases in Finland. Insights into Imaging, 12(1), 1-10. Web.