AHRQ Awarded for Work To Reduce Diagnostic Errors

AHRQ Director Gopal Khanna, M.B.A., and Jeffrey Brady, M.D., M.P.H., director of AHRQ’s Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, received an award from the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) for the agency’s ongoing work to reduce diagnostic errors. The 2019 Champion for Better Diagnosis Award was presented Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C., during a luncheon at SIDM’s Diagnostic Error in Medicine 12^th Annual International Conference. Inaccurate or delayed diagnoses affect nearly 1 in 20 U.S. adults every year, according to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a National Academy of Medicine report partially funded by AHRQ. Last month, Director Khanna identified reducing diagnostic errors as one of the agency’s three strategic priorities. “That action clearly marks a watershed moment for our community,” said Paul Epner, M.B.A., SIDM’s chief executive officer. “We want to thank and honor not only Gopal’s and Jeff’s leadership, but the entire team at AHRQ. Our gratitude to all of you.“ AHRQ is currently funding research projects on diagnostic safety that involve using new or existing analytic processes to study the incidence, associated factors and early indicators of diagnostic errors. Research results will inform future development and testing of strategies and interventions to reduce diagnostic errors.

Attending SIDM's annual conference are, left to right, David Newman-Toker, M.D., Ph.D., SIDM president; Jeffrey Brady, M.D., director of AHRQ's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety; Gopal Khanna, M.B.A., director of AHRQ; and Paul Epner, M.B.A, SIDM chief executive officer.