SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Informal Peer Diagnostic Second Opinion: Hospitalist Practices and Perspectives

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This survey study examined how hospitalists use and view peer diagnostic second opinions. Timely diagnosis is critical in hospital medicine, but diagnostic delays remain common, and team-based collaboration may help reduce errors.<br /><br />Researchers surveyed 338 hospitalists from 13 U.S. teaching hospitals using a REDCap questionnaire in August–September 2025. The survey assessed how often clinicians seek second opinions when uncertain, whether they believe peer consultation improves diagnostic accuracy and safety, and what barriers make consultation difficult.<br /><br />Most participants reported valuing peer input: 97% believed consultation improves diagnostic accuracy and patient safety. However, use was not universal. About 51.5% said they seek a second opinion most of the time or always in cases of diagnostic uncertainty, 33.4% sometimes, and 15.1% rarely or never.<br /><br />The main barriers to seeking a second opinion were time constraints (64.3%), concern about bothering a colleague (56.6%), difficulty identifying whom to ask (43.0%), and feeling professionally vulnerable (30.0%). A smaller group (12.9%) felt informal consultation had limited value.<br /><br />Overall, the findings suggest that peer diagnostic second opinions are widely appreciated but not consistently used. The study highlights opportunities to improve hospital diagnostic teamwork by standardizing peer consultation processes and reducing barriers such as time pressure and social discomfort.<br /><br />These results support the idea that structured peer collaboration could strengthen diagnostic safety in hospital medicine, especially as hospitalists manage increasingly complex patients.

Asset Subtitle

Taiju Miyagami

Meta Tag

Author List Andrew D. Auerbach, Anuj K. Dalal, Jeffrey J. Glasheen, Jeffrey L. Schnipper, Katie E. Raffel, Molly A. Kantor, Peter Barish, Rachel. L J. Weiss, Sumant Ranji, Taiju Miyagami, Tiffany M. Lee

Category Research

Concept Hospitalist Role

Concept Cognitive Second Opinion

Concept Diagnostic Uncertainty

Concept Peer Consultation

Concept Diagnostic Error

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Juntendo University

Presenting Author Taiju Miyagami

Track Communication

Keywords

hospitalists

diagnostic second opinions

peer consultation

diagnostic accuracy

patient safety

diagnostic uncertainty

hospital medicine

team-based collaboration

barriers to consultation

structured peer collaboration

Hospitalist Role

Cognitive Second Opinion

Diagnostic Uncertainty

Peer Consultation

Diagnostic Error