Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)
Today, U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-Va.), Kim Schrier (D-Wash), and Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) announced their reintroduction of the Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Waste by Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act – bipartisan, bicameral legislation to address the alarming rate of medical diagnostic error in our country. U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. The lawmakers’ legislation aims to prevent and mitigate the devastating impacts these errors can have, including misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, permanent disability, and death. Recent research published in March 2025 estimates that across health care settings, over 900,000 Americans a year suffer permanent disability or death because of diagnostic error. These findings build on a 2015 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that concluded most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, and it’s estimated that 80% of all harm caused by diagnostic error is preventable.
This legislation would create an Interagency Council on Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, as well as a new grant program for the establishment and maintenance of Research Centers of Diagnostic Excellence – such as the Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence at Johns Hopkins – that advance research and progress in diagnostic quality, safety, and health care value.
“Diagnostic delays affect millions of Americans, drive up health care costs, and contribute to thousands of preventable deaths each year – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Our bill invests in better data collection, stronger research, and sharing of best practices to improve diagnostic accuracy, deliver better outcomes for patients, and reduce health disparities. It also establishes Research Centers of Diagnostic Excellence to advance research, helps bring proven methods for preventing misdiagnosis into everyday clinical practice, and gives patients pathways to report delays and contribute to a growing body of data to inform policymaking. I thank Senators Van Hollen and Luján and Representatives Schrier and Van Drew for their leadership on this legislation, and will continue to work with colleagues to build support for it in the House,” said Representative Beyer.
“Getting the right diagnosis at the right time can make the difference between life and death,” said Representative Van Drew. “Too many patients are suffering because of preventable mistakes that should never happen. This bipartisan bill focuses on improving the way we diagnose illnesses, giving doctors better tools and helping patients get the care they need sooner.”
“Far too many Americans have experienced the loss, pain, and hardship that come with a misdiagnosed medical condition – and for many, these errors cause permanent disability or death. Medical diagnostic errors not only impact patients’ lives – they also cost patients and our nation billions of dollars each year. This legislation will invest in efforts to prevent and reduce diagnostic errors, giving medical experts, patients, and their families the research and resources they need to better treat patients and save lives,” said Senator Van Hollen.
“Every year, millions of Americans suffer the consequences of diagnostic errors, costing lives and burdening patients and our health care system with billions of dollars in avoidable costs. Every patient deserves an accurate diagnosis delivered in time to make a difference,” said Senator Luján. “That’s why I’m joining my colleagues in reintroducing the Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act to advance research and improve diagnostic quality and safety. No one should lose their life to a mistake we have the power to prevent.”
Diagnostic errors stem from a wide variety of causes, including failure to provide an accurate or timely diagnosis; inadequate communication between providers, patients, and their families; a lack of information for patients on navigating the diagnostic process; and a system that discourages transparency and disclosure of diagnostic errors, which impedes attempts to learn from these events and improve diagnosis. The National Academies study concluded that: “Despite the pervasiveness of diagnostic errors and the risk for serious patient harm, diagnostic errors have been largely unappreciated within the quality and patient safety movements in health care.”
The Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Waste by Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act would:
- Authorize a federal grant program for the establishment and maintenance of Research Centers of Diagnostic Excellence that advance research and progress in diagnostic quality, safety, and value in health care
- Require the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop a strategic plan to modernize federal approaches and mechanisms to enable patients and their families to voluntarily report experiences of diagnostic error
- Establish an Interagency Council on Improving Diagnosis in Health Care to:
- Enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of diagnosis in health care;
- Identify and eliminate systemic barriers to supporting research in improving diagnosis in health care; and
- Identify knowledge gaps, research and data needs, and policies to strengthen the clinical and translational research pipeline to improve diagnostic safety and quality
The text of the bill is available here.
This legislation is endorsed by Patients for Patient Safety US, the Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence, and Physician-Parent Caregivers.
“Diagnostic errors are the most common, the most costly, and the most catastrophic of serious medical errors. Diagnostic errors stem from a wide variety of causes, including inadequate communication between providers, patients, and their families; the absence of metrics to gauge performance, limited feedback to clinicians, and system failures, like lost test-results which happened in my family”, said Sue Sheridan, President and CEO of Patients For Patient Safety US. “Much of the research to date has focused on defining the magnitude of the problem. This legislation moves us toward identifying solutions to equip clinicians, patients and their families with the tools needed to arrive at the right diagnosis timely. It will save lives. PFPS US commends Senators Van Hollen and Lujan, and Representatives Beyer, Schrier, and Van Drew for their leadership and willingness to take on difficult healthcare issues that others often overlook. We look forward to this bill moving through the legislative process and into law”.
“Senator Van Hollen and Representatives Beyer, Dr. Schrier, and Van Drew should be warmly applauded by patients and clinicians everywhere for taking up the call”, said David Newman-Toker, MD, Ph.D, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence at Johns Hopkins. “Accurate diagnosis is a prerequisite for quality healthcare —put simply, it’s hard to apply the right treatment if you start out with the wrong diagnosis. Furthermore, failure to accurately diagnose is a major driver of excess healthcare costs. But diagnosis is also one of the most complex tasks in modern medicine; until we have a larger body of research that supports data-driven, reliable improvement strategies that are ‘shovel ready,’ our clinicians and healthcare system will be left struggling. There is much work yet to be done by all healthcare stakeholders to move this life-saving research forward.”
“As a physician mother in public health, I have witnessed diagnostic errors firsthand — in two of my own children, and in countless young people through the Invisible Wave Movement. Diagnostic errors can cause morbidity and mortality in children and young adults, and the personal and financial costs compound over a lifetime. Voluntary reporting is an essential mechanism for capturing and preventing this harm — finally giving young people and parents a place to go, and giving medicine the opportunity to learn about young adult health. This legislation ensures that young people will no longer be overlooked and have the right to an accurate, timely diagnosis, the critical first step for the right care and treatment. This will prevent lost days and years during growth and development and allow millions of young people the opportunity to learn, work, grow and participate in society with their peers. We are grateful to Senator Van Hollen for his commitment to protecting the health of young people,” said Santi KM Bhagat, MD MPH, Founder and President, Physician-Parent Caregivers and The Invisible Wave.