Patients can’t solve this problem, but insurers can streamline administrative paperwork and re-examine the logic behind reimbursement policies. Hospital systems can help by providing high-tech decision support tools and encouraging physicians to collaborate on tough cases and learn from missed opportunities.

Metrics also need work. As the old business adage goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Yet most health-care organizations aren’t tracking misdiagnosis beyond malpractice claims. Doctors need mechanisms to provide and receive timely feedback on the quality and accuracy of our diagnoses, including better patient follow-up and test-result tracking systems.

Electronic health records will help eventually, but slow innovation in this area has frustrated many physicians. And most doctors still lack access to electronic patient data gathered by other physicians. Doctors can make a more informed diagnosis when they can see the disease progression or learn what other doctors have discovered about the patient.