Table 1.
Contributors to Diagnostic Error10
| Administrative or data entry errors |
| Incorrect name assigned to imaging data |
| Scheduling error |
| Incorrect data entry |
| Procedural or conditional factors |
| Failure to confirm patient identity or diagnosis |
| Incomplete examination of anatomy or physiology |
| Poor imaging environment |
| Failure to improve imaging conditions when possible |
| Communication or information errors |
| Lacking or misleading patient history |
| No access to prior studies |
| Failure to report critical findings in a timely fashion to referring physician |
| Incorrect requisition (unintended or no clinical question asked) |
| Cognitive errors |
| Insufficient knowledge base |
| Insufficient technical skills |
| Faulty data synthesis |
| Lack of consideration of a patient’s situation/condition that is relevant to diagnosis |
| Misidentification/interpretation of a finding on echocardiography |
| Premature closure of case |
| Distraction by other diagnoses, findings, or focused question |
| Underappreciation/consideration of a finding |
| Overappreciation of a finding |
| Confirmation bias |
| Incorrect or improper calculation |
| Technical factors |
| Artifact |
| Modality limitation |
| Poor acoustic windows |
| Equipment malfunction |
| Patient- or disease-related factors |
| Rare or complex anatomy |
| Misleading anatomy or physiology |