​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​February 8, 2018, 2:00 PM ET: Practicing More Careful and Thoughtful Diagnosis

• Gordon Schiff, MD, Associate Director, Brigham and Women's Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice; Quality and Safety Director, Harvard Medical School (HMS) Center for Primary Care

• Christine K. Cassel, MD, Executive Advisor to Founding Dean, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine

• Bruce Lambert, PhD, Director, Center for Communication and Health, Northwestern University

We don’t like to think of the diagnosis process as causing as many problems as it’s trying to solve. But when the complaints are more chronic than acute, there’s growing concern that a plethora of diagnostic tests and procedures have raised expectations of always finding a precise answer or explanation. When that's not possible, or tests aren't recommended as the first line of attack, a provider's clinical observations and reasoning can seem less than satisfactory.

It’s this complexity of diagnosis and the difficulty of sometimes having to admit "there's no way to know for sure" that we’re going to explore on the February 8 WIHI: Practicing More Careful and Thoughtful Diagnosis. We’ll be sharing some new thinking about better ways to engage with patients when diagnostic certainty isn't possible and how to create strong, trusting relationships that break from the mold of  “doing something” or “doing nothing at all.” We hope you’ll tune in.

Our lead WIHI panelist is Dr. Gordon Schiff, who's been researching and writing​ about reducing diagnostic errors, especially in the ambulatory setting, for years. A strong proponent of Choosing Wisely​ to reduce over testing and overtreatment, and active in the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine​, Dr. Schiff is now crafting a set of ten principles to guide what he calls a more "conservative" and cautious diagnosis approach — one that values accuracy as well as dialogue and collaboration, encouraging clinicians to work with and stick with their patients when answers aren't easy to come by.

Longtime quality leader, Dr. Christine Cassel, and health communications expert, Bruce Lambert, join the WIHI panel as two colleagues also engaged in developing these new diagnosis principles.​

We need and welcome your input, too. Please join the discussion on February 8. See you then! 

Please click here to create a calendar invite for the 2 PM ET broadcast.​