# Acute Care Learning Laboratory - Reducing Threats to Diagnostic Fidelity in Critical Illness

> **NIH AHRQ R18** · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · 2021 · $601,412

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Despite the recognition that diagnostic errors and delays are a major contributor to preventable deaths in the
USA, little progress has been made to reduce mortality outcomes from this known killer. Although there is a
considerable body of literature outlining contributing causes, an effective strategy leading to a meaningful
reduction in diagnostic error and delay rates has not made its way into practice. This has, at least in part, been
due to ineffective implementation that has focused on the healthcare team's role and has failed to incorporate
the complexity of the organizational and systems processes within the clinical environment. This proposal is
unique and novel and combines mixed-methods research approaches with systems engineering research
approaches to understand the interplay of the multiple factors contributing to diagnostic error and delay. The
knowledge gained from this holistic approach will then be used within the learning laboratory to inform the
design, development, evaluation, and refinement of the solutions to diagnostic error and delay. “Control Tower”
will be the staging ground for the in situ learning laboratory and will be built on top of a well-established clinical
informatics infrastructure and hospital environment open to innovation and practice change. Specifically, using
this innovative approach we will evaluate the effectiveness of learning laboratory interventions on the rate of
diagnostic error and delay in patients with emerging critical illness. The interventions developed through
“Control Tower” have the potential to be shared with multiple practices and adapted to a variety of clinical
environments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10216339
- **Project number:** 5R18HS026609-04
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Brian W Pickering
- **Activity code:** R18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AHRQ
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $601,412
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10216339

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10216339, Acute Care Learning Laboratory - Reducing Threats to Diagnostic Fidelity in Critical Illness (5R18HS026609-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10216339. Licensed CC0.

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