Autopsy Data to Refine Healthcare Quality: A Fresh Perspective

Abstract

The medical autopsy is an established quality assurance tool 
that has laid the foundation for modern quality assurance and 
improvement strategies.1
 Previous studies have predominantly utilized autopsy data to determine discordance rates among pre- and 
post-mortem diagnoses and to identify pathologies at highest risk 
of misdiagnosis. Examples of such work that has provided valuable data to guide healthcare policy from around the world include 
pre- and post-mortem discordance rates of 9.3% in India,2
 12.3% 
in Canada,3
 17.2% in the USA,4
 18.1% in the Netherlands,5
 19.0% 
in Greece,6
 25.6% in Spain,7
 28% in Brazil,8
 and 48.4% in Jamaica.9
Although this area of work has contributed considerably to the 
practice of diagnostic medicine, it is only beginning to scratch the 
surface of the potential applications of autopsy data. New and innovative strategies to apply autopsy data represent timely opportunities to strengthen modern diagnostic processes. The purpose 
of expanded applications of autopsy data is to inform targeted 
strategies to recalibrate diagnostic methods and to mitigate factors 
that contribute to diagnostic error in the evolving landscape of 
modern healthcare