NEW STUDY: Your first medical diagnosis is probably wrong

When you’re dealing with a serious medical condition, don’t think twice about seeking a second opinion.

It could save your life, according to a new study from the Mayo Clinic. The investigation, published online in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice,

found that 88% of patients who came to the medical institute for a second opinion, left with a different medical determination

The study team, led by James Naessens, a Mayo Clinic health care policy researcher, compared the referring diagnosis to the final diagnosis. In 21% of the cases, patients got a completely different diagnosis, while around two-thirds of patients got a modified diagnosis. For 12%, the diagnosis remained unchanged.

The findings were based on analyzing records of 286 patients referred from primary care providers to the Mayo Clinic’s General Internal Medicine Division in Rochester, Minnesota over a two-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

“We were surprised by the extent of change in diagnosis among the patients referred to our general medicine practice," Naessens told the Daily News. "Not every patient for every problem needs a second opinion. However, with the diagnosis of a serious condition, if the condition is not responding as expected or in the situation where the primary care provider wants additional advice, it may be valuable to get another perspective.” 

“Knowing that more than 1 out of every 5 referral patients may be completely (and) incorrectly diagnosed is troubling,” added Naessens, “not only because of the safety risks for these patients prior to correct diagnosis, but also because of the patients we assume are not being referred at all.”

Naessens acknowledged that the high cost of medical care can make second opinions cost-prohibitive.

“This may prevent identification of diagnostic error, and could lead to treatment delays, complications leading to more costly treatments, or even patient harm or death,” said Naessens. “We want to encourage second opinions when the provider is not certain.”