A retrospective review of 27,710 medical records at UW Medicine hospitals evaluating alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels in pregnant patients between January 2007 and December 2020 found no clinical measurable difference in AFP levels between non-Black patients and Black patients, the UW Medicine study found.
Tag: Tests
Doctors motivated by both health, malpractice concerns when ordering additional tests
A UCLA-led study has found that dermatopathologists, who specialize in diagnosing skin diseases at the microscopic level, are motivated both by patient safety concerns and by malpractice fears — often simultaneously — when ordering multiple tests and obtaining second opinions, with a higher proportion of these doctors reporting patient safety as a concern.
When ordering additional microscopic tests for patients, 90% of the dermatopathologists surveyed cited patient safety as a concern and 71% of them reported malpractice fears. Similarly, when obtaining second reviews from a consulting pathologist or recommending additional surgical sampling, 91% cited safety concerns and 78% malpractice concerns.