“Diagnostic error is important because it is very common. Anchoring bias, also known as premature closure, is defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as relying on an initial diagnostic impression despite subsequent information to the contrary. This is the most frequent single cause of diagnostic error. In this case, once the diagnosis of dehydration and acute kidney injury were made, clinicians became “anchored” to that diagnosis and did not consider other possibilities until much later.
Hindsight bias and outcome bias occur when looking back at a case while knowing the result and outcome. Commission and omission bias relate to the tendency toward action rather than inaction and the tendency toward inaction rather than action, respectively.” ABFM 2017 critique.
Further Reading / References
https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primers/primer/12/diagnostic-errors
Wellbery C: Flaws in clinical reasoning: A common cause of diagnostic error. Am Fam Physician 2011;84(9):1042-1048.
Ely JW, Kaldjian LC, D’Alessandro DM: Diagnostic errors in primary care: Lessons learned. J Am Board Fam Med 2012;25(1):87-97.
Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care: Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. The National Academies Press, 2015, pp 57-58.
Ely JW, Graber ML: Preventing diagnostic errors in primary care. Am Fam Physician 2016;94(6):426-432.
Patient Safety Primer: Diagnostic Errors. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, updated 2017.