Beyond thinking fast and slow: Implications of a transtheoretical model of clinical reasoning and error on teaching, assessment, and research.

From dual process to a family of theories known collectively as situativity, both micro and macro theories of cognition inform our current understanding of clinical reasoning (CR) and error. CR is a complex process that occurs in a complex environment, and a nuanced, expansive, integrated model of these theories is necessary to fully understand how CR is performed in the present day and in the future. In this perspective, we present these individual theories along with figures and descriptive cases for purposes of comparison before exploring the implications of a transtheoretical model of these theories for teaching, assessment, and research in CR and error.

Patient Heterogeneity and the J-Curve Relationship Between Time-to-Antibiotics and the Outcomes of Patients Admitted With Bacterial Infection.

OBJECTIVES: Sepsis remains a leading and preventable cause of hospital utilization and mortality in the United States. Despite updated guidelines, the optimal definition of sepsis as well as optimal timing of bundled treatment remain uncertain. Identifying patients with infection who benefit from early treatment is a necessary step for tailored interventions. In this study, we aimed to illustrate clinical predictors of time-to-antibiotics among patients with severe bacterial infection and model the effect of delay on risk-adjusted outcomes across different sepsis definitions. DESIGN: A multicenter retrospective observational study. SETTING: A seven-hospital network including academic tertiary care center. PATIENTS: Eighteen thousand three hundred fifteen patients admitted with severe bacterial illness with or without sepsis by either acute organ dysfunction (AOD) or systemic inflammatory response syndrome positivity. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary exposure was time to antibiotics. We identified patient predictors of time-to-antibiotics including demographics, chronic diagnoses, vitals, and laboratory results and determined the impact of delay on a composite of inhospital death or length of stay over 10 days. Distribution of time-to-antibiotics was similar across patients with and without sepsis. For all patients, a J-curve relationship between time-to-antibiotics and outcomes was observed, primarily driven by length of stay among patients without AOD. Patient characteristics provided good to excellent prediction of time-to-antibiotics irrespective of the presence of sepsis. Reduced time-to-antibiotics was associated with improved outcomes for all time points beyond 2.5 hours from presentation across sepsis definitions. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic timing is a function of patient factors regardless of sepsis criteria. Similarly, we show that early administration of antibiotics is associated with improved outcomes in all patients with severe bacterial illness. Our findings suggest identifying infection is a rate-limiting and actionable step that can improve outcomes in septic and nonseptic patients.

The impact of clinical uncertainty in the graduate medical education (GME) learning environment: A mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Uncertainty is ubiquitous in medicine. Studies link intolerance of uncertainty to burnout, ineffective communication, cognitive bias, and inappropriate resource use. Little is known about how uncertainty manifests in the clinical learning environment. We aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of uncertainty among residents and attendings. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods study including a survey, semi-structured interviews, and ethnographic observations during rounds with residents and attendings at an academic medical center. The survey included three validated instruments: Physicians' Reaction to Uncertainty Scale; Maslach Burnout Inventory 2-item; and Educational Climate Inventory. RESULTS: 35/60 (58%) of eligible residents and 14/21 (67%) attendings completed the survey. Residents reported higher anxiety due to uncertainty than attendings, higher concern about bad outcomes, and greater reluctance to disclose uncertainty to patients. Residents reported increased symptoms of burnout (p < .05). Perceiving the learning environment as more competitive correlated with reluctance to disclose uncertainty (r = -0.44; p < .01). Qualitative themes included: recognizing and facing uncertainty, and consequences for the learning environment. Observations revealed senior clinicians have greater comfort acknowledging uncertainty. CONCLUSIONS: Medical curricula should be developed to promote recognition and acknowledgement of uncertainty. Greater acknowledgement of uncertainty, specifically by attendings and senior residents, may positively impact the clinical learning environment.

Does an endocrinology subspecialty residency rotation enhance resident endocrine clinical knowledge?

BACKGROUND: Internal Medicine (IM) programs offer elective subspecialty rotations in which residents may enroll to supplement the experience and knowledge obtained during general inpatient and outpatient rotations. Objective evidence that these rotations provide enhanced subspecialty specific knowledge is lacking. The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to an endocrinology subspecialty rotation enhanced a resident's endocrinology-specific knowledge beyond that otherwise acquired during IM residency. METHODS: Data were collected on internal medicine resident scores on the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine In-Training Examinations (IM-ITE) for calendar years 2012 through 2018 along with enrollment data as to whether residents had completed an endocrinology subspecialty rotation prior to sitting for a given IM-ITE. Three hundred and six internal medicine residents in the University of Minnesota Internal Medicine residency program with 664 scores total on the IM-ITE for calendar years 2012 through 2018. Percentage of correct answers on the overall and endocrine subspecialty content areas on the IM-ITE for each exam were determined and the association between prior exposure to an endocrinology subspecialty rotation and percentage of correct answers in the endocrinology content area was analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effects models. RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty-three residents (76%) completed an endocrinology subspecialty rotation at some point during their residency; 121 (40%) residents had at least one IM-ITE both before and after exposure to an endocrine subspecialty rotation. Exposure to an endocrinology subspecialty rotation exhibited a positive association with the expected IM-ITE percent correct on the endocrinology content area (5.5% predicted absolute increase). Advancing year of residency was associated with a predicted increase in overall IM-ITE score but did not improve the predictive model for endocrine subspecialty score. CONCLUSIONS: Completion of an endocrinology subspecialty elective was associated with an increase in resident endocrine specific knowledge as assessed by the IM-ITE. These findings support the value of subspecialty rotations in enhancing a resident's subspecialty specific medical knowledge.

Measuring and Improving Diagnostic Safety in Primary Care: Addressing the "Twin" Pandemics of Diagnostic Error and Clinician Burnout.

Diagnostic errors are a source of unacceptable harm in health care. However, improvement efforts have been hampered by the lack of valid measures reflecting the quality of the diagnostic process. At the same time, it has become apparent that the healthcare work system, particularly in primary care, is chaotic and stressful, leading to clinician burnout and patient harm. We propose a new construct that health systems and researchers can use to measure the quality and safety of the diagnostic process that is sensitive to the context of the health care work system. This model focuses on three measurable practices: considering "don't miss" diagnoses, looking for red flags, and ensuring that clinicians avoid common diagnostic pitfalls. We believe that the performance of clinicians with respect to these factors is sensitive to the health care work system, allowing for context-dependent measurement and improvement of the diagnostic process. Such process measures will enable more rapid improvements rather than exclusively measuring outcomes related to "correct" or "incorrect" diagnoses.

The critical need for nursing education to address the diagnostic process.

Diagnostic errors are among the most common medical errors and the deadliest. The National Academy of Medicine recently concluded that diagnostic errors represent an urgent national concern. Their first recommendation to address this issue called for promoting the key role of the nurse in the diagnostic process. Registered nurses across clinical settings significantly contribute to the medical diagnostic process, though their role in diagnosis has historically gone unacknowledged. In this paper, we review the history and current state of diagnostic education in pre-licensure registered nurse preparation, introduce interprofessional individual- and team-based competencies to improve diagnostic safety, and discuss the next steps for nursing education. Nurses educated and empowered to fully participate in the diagnostic process are essential for achieving better, safer patient outcomes.

Hospitalist-Operated Compression Ultrasonography: a Point-of-Care Ultrasound Study (HOCUS-POCUS).

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. Compression ultrasonography is the most common way to evaluate DVT and is typically performed by sonographers and interpreted by radiologists. Yet there is evidence that ultrasound examinations can be safely and accurately performed by clinicians at the bedside. OBJECTIVE: To measure the operating characteristics of hospital medicine providers performing point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for evaluation of DVT. DESIGN: This is a prospective cohort study enrolling a convenience sample of patients. Hospital medicine providers performed POCUS for DVT and the results were compared with the corresponding formal vascular study (FVS) interpreted by radiologists. PARTICIPANTS: Hospitalized non-ICU patients at four tertiary care hospitals for whom a DVT ultrasound was ordered. MAIN MEASURES: The primary outcomes were the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the POCUS compression ultrasound compared with a FVS. The secondary outcome was the elapsed time between order and the POCUS study compared with the time the FVS was ordered to when the formal radiology report was finalized. KEY RESULTS: One hundred twenty-five limbs from 73 patients were scanned. The prevalence of DVT was 6.4% (8/125). The sensitivity of POCUS for DVT was 100% (95% CI 74-100%) and specificity was 95.8% (95% CI 91-98%) with a positive predictive value of 61.5% (95% CI 35-84%) and a negative predictive value of 100% (95% CI 98-100%). The median time from order to POCUS completion was 5.8 h versus 11.5 h median time from order until the radiology report was finalized (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Hospital medicine providers can perform compression-only POCUS for DVT on inpatients with accuracy similar to other specialties and settings, with results available sooner than radiology. The observed prevalence of DVT was lower than expected. POCUS may be reliable in excluding DVT but further study is required to determine how to incorporate a positive POCUS DVT result into clinical practice.

Tracking Progress in Improving Diagnosis: A Framework for Defining Undesirable Diagnostic Events.

Diagnostic error is a prevalent, harmful, and costly phenomenon. Multiple national health care and governmental organizations have recently identified the need to improve diagnostic safety as a high priority. A major barrier, however, is the lack of standardized, reliable methods for measuring diagnostic safety. Given the absence of reliable and valid measures for diagnostic errors, we need methods to help establish some type of baseline diagnostic performance across health systems, as well as to enable researchers and health systems to determine the impact of interventions for improving the diagnostic process. Multiple approaches have been suggested but none widely adopted. We propose a new framework for identifying "undesirable diagnostic events" (UDEs) that health systems, professional organizations, and researchers could further define and develop to enable standardized measurement and reporting related to diagnostic safety. We propose an outline for UDEs that identifies both conditions prone to diagnostic error and the contexts of care in which these errors are likely to occur. Refinement and adoption of this framework across health systems can facilitate standardized measurement and reporting of diagnostic safety.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound Improves Shared Diagnostic Understanding Between Patients and Providers.

OBJECTIVES: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an integral part of the physical examination. The effect on shared understanding of adding POCUS to the traditional examination is unknown, yet this is an often-described benefit of POCUS. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether the use of POCUS improves shared understanding between providers and patients about patients' diagnoses. METHODS: This was a prospective controlled trial involving a convenience sample of hospitalized adults. Providers in the control arm performed usual care without POCUS, whereas providers in the study arm had the option to add POCUS. Surveys were administered to the subjects and their providers with questions on patient understanding of symptoms, diagnosis, and main contributors to their health problem. Two independent physicians rated the degree of shared understanding between patient and provider surveys. RESULTS: Of the 64 patients enrolled in the study, 60 had complete data. There was increased shared understanding between providers and patients with respect to their diagnosis (POCUS 9.56 ± 0.63, non-POCUS 7.62 ± 1.63, P < 0.005) and main contributors (POCUS 9.65 ± 0.77, non-POCUS 8.30 ± 1.13, P < 0.005) in the POCUS arm compared with the non-POCUS arm. Patients also increased the self-rating of their understanding of their health problem in the POCUS arm. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that using POCUS improves patients' understanding of the diagnostic process. POCUS may be uniquely poised to enhance patients' understanding of and engagement in that process.

Entrusting internal medicine residents to use point of care ultrasound: Towards improved assessment and supervision.

Background: Internal medicine physicians and trainees are increasingly using, and seeking training in, diagnostic point of care ultrasound (POCUS). Numerous internal medicine training programs have described their curricula, but little has been written about how learners should be assessed, supervised, and allowed to progress toward independent practice, yet these practices are imperative for safe and effective use. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) offer a practical method to assess observable units of professional work and make supervision decisions. Methods: An EPA for POCUS is used as a framework to assess and determine appropriate levels of supervision in an internal medicine residency program. Results: All learners have been able to advance to level 2 with a mandatory introductory boot camp course. Learners have been able to advance to higher levels of independence, often after taking formal elective programmatic coursework. However, not all learners taking the same coursework have been granted the same level of independence. Conclusions: It is feasible to assess and supervise internal medicine residents' ability to use diagnostic point of care ultrasound using an EPA.

Running Out of Options: Rhabdomyolysis Associated with Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.

Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a condition in which some patients with long-term, frequent use of cannabis paradoxically develop recurrent episodes of nausea and vomiting. The pathophysiology underlying this condition is poorly understood, as is the explanation for its common association with patients' discovery that hot-water bathing alleviates symptoms. We describe the case of a 24-year-old male with daily marijuana use and a history of CHS who was found to have rhabdomyolysis induced by a period of 15 h of continuous jogging after he discovered that this activity helped to alleviate his symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of exercise-alleviated CHS symptoms, and we propose that this case provides support to the theory of redistribution of enteric blood flow as the mechanism behind the learned hot-water bathing behavior seen so commonly in CHS.

Characteristics differentiating problem representation synthesis between novices and experts.

BACKGROUND: Formulating a thoughtful problem representation (PR) is fundamental to sound clinical reasoning and an essential component of medical education. Aside from basic structural recommendations, little consensus exists on what characterizes high-quality PRs. OBJECTIVES: To elucidate characteristics that distinguish PRs created by experts and novices. METHODS: Early internal medicine residents (novices) and inpatient teaching faculty (experts) from two academic medical centers were given two written clinical vignettes and were instructed to write a PR and three-item differential diagnosis for each. Deductive content analysis described the characteristics comprising PRs. An initial codebook of characteristics was refined iteratively. The primary outcome was differences in characteristic frequencies between groups. The secondary outcome was characteristics correlating with diagnostic accuracy. Mixed-effects regression with random effects modeling compared case-level outcomes by group. RESULTS: Overall, 167 PRs were analyzed from 30 novices and 54 experts. Experts included 0.8 fewer comorbidities (p < .01) and 0.6 more examination findings (p = .01) than novices on average. Experts were less likely to include irrelevant comorbidities (odds ratio [OR] = 0.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.2-0.8) or a diagnosis (OR = 0.3, 95% CI = 0.1-0.8) compared with novices. Experts encapsulated clinical data into higher-order terms (e.g., sepsis) than novices (p < .01) while including similar numbers of semantic qualifiers (SQs). Regardless of expertise level, PRs following a three-part structure (e.g., demographics, temporal course, and clinical syndrome) and including temporal SQs were associated with diagnostic accuracy (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with novices, expert PRs include less irrelevant data and synthesize information into higher-order concepts. Future studies should determine whether targeted educational interventions for PRs improve diagnostic accuracy.

Consensus-Derived Recommended Skills for Transition to Residency Courses.

PURPOSE: Transition to residency (TTR) courses facilitate the medical student-residency transition and are an integral part of senior medical student training. The authors established a common set of skills for TTR courses, and an expected level of entrustment students should demonstrate in each skill on TTR course completion. METHOD: A modified Delphi approach was used with 3 survey iterations between 2020 and 2022 to establish skills to be included in a TTR course. Nine TTR experts suggested general candidate skills and conducted a literature search to ensure no vital skills were missed. A stakeholder panel was solicited from email lists of TTR educators, residency program directors, and residents at the panelists' institutions. Consensus was defined as more than 75% of participants selecting a positive inclusion response. An entrustment questionnaire asked panelists to assign a level of expected entrustment to each skill, with 1 indicating observation only and 6 indicating perform independently. RESULTS: The stakeholder panel initially consisted of 118 respondents with representation across educational contexts and clinical specialties. Response rates were 54% in iteration 2, 42% in iteration 3, and 33% on the entrustment questionnaire. After 3 iterations, 54 skills met consensus and were consolidated into 37 final skills categorized into 18 clinical skills (e.g., assessment and management of inpatient concerns), 14 communication skills (e.g., delivering serious news or having difficult conversations), 4 personal and professional skills (e.g., prioritization of clinical tasks), and 1 procedural skill (mask ventilation). Median entrustment levels were reported for all skills, with 19 skills having a level of expected entrustment of 4 (perform independently and have all findings double-checked). CONCLUSIONS: These consensus skills can serve as the foundation of a standardized national TTR curriculum framework. Entrustment guidance may help educational leaders optimize training and allocation of resources for TTR curriculum development and implementation.

Influence of a Large Language Model on Diagnostic Reasoning: A Randomized Clinical Vignette Study.

Importance: Diagnostic errors are common and cause significant morbidity. Large language models (LLMs) have shown promise in their performance on both multiple-choice and open-ended medical reasoning examinations, but it remains unknown whether the use of such tools improves diagnostic reasoning. Objective: To assess the impact of the GPT-4 LLM on physicians' diagnostic reasoning compared to conventional resources. Design: Multi-center, randomized clinical vignette study. Setting: The study was conducted using remote video conferencing with physicians across the country and in-person participation across multiple academic medical institutions. Participants: Resident and attending physicians with training in family medicine, internal medicine, or emergency medicine. Interventions: Participants were randomized to access GPT-4 in addition to conventional diagnostic resources or to just conventional resources. They were allocated 60 minutes to review up to six clinical vignettes adapted from established diagnostic reasoning exams. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was diagnostic performance based on differential diagnosis accuracy, appropriateness of supporting and opposing factors, and next diagnostic evaluation steps. Secondary outcomes included time spent per case and final diagnosis. Results: 50 physicians (26 attendings, 24 residents) participated, with an average of 5.2 cases completed per participant. The median diagnostic reasoning score per case was 76.3 percent (IQR 65.8 to 86.8) for the GPT-4 group and 73.7 percent (IQR 63.2 to 84.2) for the conventional resources group, with an adjusted difference of 1.6 percentage points (95% CI -4.4 to 7.6; p=0.60). The median time spent on cases for the GPT-4 group was 519 seconds (IQR 371 to 668 seconds), compared to 565 seconds (IQR 456 to 788 seconds) for the conventional resources group, with a time difference of -82 seconds (95% CI -195 to 31; p=0.20). GPT-4 alone scored 15.5 percentage points (95% CI 1.5 to 29, p=0.03) higher than the conventional resources group. Conclusions and Relevance: In a clinical vignette-based study, the availability of GPT-4 to physicians as a diagnostic aid did not significantly improve clinical reasoning compared to conventional resources, although it may improve components of clinical reasoning such as efficiency. GPT-4 alone demonstrated higher performance than both physician groups, suggesting opportunities for further improvement in physician-AI collaboration in clinical practice.