Doctors are under tremendous pressure to diagnose patients correctly, yet mistakes happen all the time, says David Newman-Toker, director of the Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence. A recent National Academy of Medicine report found that most people will experience a diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

The solution, says Newman-Toker, is to expand the diagnostic team to include nurses, physical therapists, social workers, patients and others. “This sort of teamwork will play a large role in improving patient safety,” he says.

Health professionals such as physical therapists or pharmacists have specialized knowledge that can be crucial to diagnostic accuracy, says Newman-Toker. Nurses typically spend more time with patients than doctors do and can bring valuable insights to the discussion.

But enlisting more voices will involve training and cultural changes. Legally and historically, the job of diagnosing rests solely in the hands of physicians, he says, so others may be reluctant to speak up, even though “there’s no legal prohibition against being part of the diagnostic team,” he says.

Patients can also help by arriving for doctors’ visits with one-page summaries of their symptoms and asking follow-up questions, Newman-Toker says.

In a one-hour webinar, Newman-Toker makes his case for diagnostic teamwork and discusses the path forward.

See also, a Q and A with David Newman-Toker.