Digital and face-to-face advances and detractions to cure the personal and financial cost of misdiagnosis
| Date | 12 February 2018 |
| Pages | 39-43 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2017-0075 |
| Published date | 12 February 2018 |
| Author | Heather Towery,Michael Hough |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Digital and face-to-face advances
and detractions to cure the personal
and financial cost of misdiagnosis
Heather Towery and Michael Hough
Abstract
Purpose –Digital transformation holds promise for addressing one of the biggest challenges in
health care – misdiagnosis. About 30 per cent of health spending in 2009, i.e. roughly$750bn, was
wasted on unnecessary services, excessive administrative costs, fraud and other problems.
Moreover, inefficiencies cause needless suffering, states the Institute of Medicine. Leveraging
emerging digital technologies in this sector stands to save thousands of lives and billions of dollars.
Digital technology is being applied to this field owing to the great demand for a solution.
Misdiagnosis is causing a major hemorrhaging hundreds of billions of dollars in the health industry –
an estimated 10-20 per cent of cases are misdiagnosed, sometimes resulting in death or permanent
disability, according to studies cited by the National Center for Policy Analysis. Additionally,
experts believe as many as 31 per cent of all breast cancer cases are misdiagnosed, according to
the New England Journal of Medicine, and 90,000 women are misdiagnosed with invasive breast
cancer, according to Susan G. Komen.
Design/methodology/approach –Digital technology is being applied to this field owing to the g reat
demand for a solution. Misdiagnosis is causinga major hemorrhaging hundreds of billionsof dollars
in the health industry – an estimated 10-20 percentof cases are misdiagnosed, sometimes resulting
in death or permanent disability, according to studies cited by the National Cen ter for Policy
Analysis. Additionally, experts believe as many as 31 percent of all breast cancer cases are
misdiagnosed, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, and 90,000 women are
misdiagnosed with invasive breastcancer, according to Susan G. Komen.
Findings –Advance Medical’s experience is that 39 per cent of a self-selecting group of medical
advocacy seekers are misdiagnosed. Directly related to this challenge, a major battleground
where the war on escalating healthcare costs is being fought is in the space of utilization
management tools, which help ensure insurers are paying for the right care. These tools depend
on the doctor making the right diagnosis and that the treatment matches the diagnosis. But these
tools are broken. Instead of checking accuracy of diagnosis (e.g. the right test was done and
interpreted accurately), they are at best checking to see if the “box was checked” for any testing
being done. The solution is to not only to ensure that the diagnosis is correct by havingit reviewed
independently but also to use technology to aid diagnosis and the physician’s overall job. Using
tools such as patient portals and data management technology can aid doctors to not burn out
from sorting through data but rather using healthcare technology to reduce physician exhaustion
and thus misdiagnosis.
Originality/value –New and old tools hold promise for addressing one of the costliest and most
able-to-be-impacted challenges in health care – misdiagnosis. Because of misdiagnosis, the
health industry is hemorrhaging hundreds of billions of dollars and causing patients undue stress
and negative medical impact. Not only does misdiagnosis have a strong effect on the economy
and the solvency of the US health care system, it also has a profound effect on the people whoare
being misdiagnosed, as well as their families and loved ones.
Keywords Human resource management, Employee engagement, Technology, Leadership,
Productivity, Knowledge
Paper type Case study
Heather Towery and
Michael Hough are both
based at Advance Medical,
Inc, Westwood,
Massachusetts, USA.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2017-0075 VOL. 17 NO. 1 2018, pp. 39-43, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 39
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