Journal of Kidney Treatment and Diagnosis is a peer-reviewed Journal, encourages on-going international research and information exchange through publication of latest advances on all aspects of Kidney Treatment and Diagnosis.

Errors can include misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, administration of the wrong drug to the wrong patient or in the wrong way, giving multiple drugs that interact negatively, surgery on an incorrect site, failure to remove all surgical instruments, failure to take the correct blood type into account, or incorrect record-keeping. A 10th type of error is ones which are not watched for by researchers, such as RNs failing to program an IV pump to give a full dose of IV antibiotics or other medication.

According to a 2016 study from Johns Hopkins Medicine, medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the United States. The projected cost of these errors to the U.S. economy is approximately $20 billion, 87% of which are direct increases in medical costs of providing services to patient affected by medical errors. Medical errors can increase average hospital costs by as much as $4,769 per patient. One common type of medical error stems from x-rays and medical imaging: failing to see or notice signs of disease on an image. The retrospective "miss" rate among abnormal imaging studies is reported to be as high as 30% (the real-life error rate is much lower, around 4-5%, because not all images are abnormal), and up to 20% of missed findings result in long-term adverse effects.

A large study reported several cases where patients were wrongly told that they were HIV-negative when the physicians erroneously ordered and interpreted HTLV (a closely related virus) testing rather than HIV testing. In the same study, >90% of HTLV tests were ordered erroneously. It is estimated that between 10-15% of physician diagnoses are erroneous.

Misdiagnosis of lower extremity cellulitis is estimated to occur in 30% of patients, leading to unnecessary hospitalizations in 85% and unnecessary antibiotic use in 92%. Collectively, these errors lead to between 50,000 and 130,000 unnecessary hospitalizations and between $195 and $515 million in avoidable health care spending annually in the United States.

We will be looking forward to hearing a positive response from you soon.

With Regards,
John Robert                              
Managing Editor
Journal of Kidney Treatment and Diagnosis