The Cost of Diagnostic Delay and Error

For years, diagnostic delays and errors have been tolerated and often ignored, although they have been reported as a leading cause of patient harm.¹ Beyond the evident impact on patient outcomes, there are limited data investigating the effect of such delays and errors on health care expenditure. The National Academy of Medicine estimates that $750 billion, or 30% of annual health care spending, is wasted in unnecessary services and other inefficiencies,² but the contributions of diagnostic error to these excess costs remains uncertain. For this edition of Bending the Value Curve, we present a case that highlights the impact of a diagnostic delay on health care use and expenditures and illustrates factors contributing to the delay. Verbal informed consent for writing this report was obtained from the patient and his guardian.