How can we overcome the challenges of today's diagnostics?Insights Series, issue 14: Precision diagnosis in the COVID-19 era and beyond

diagnostic accuracy
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an intense focus on diagnostics, highlighting the relevance of accurate and timely diagnosis for increasing the quality of care and reducing healthcare- and community-related costs. It has also put a spotlight on specific diagnostic challenges.

But diagnostic challenges are not unique to COVID-19. By some estimates, in the medical practice patients may be medically misdiagnosed 10%-15% of the time1, making it likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic gap in their lifetime. Equally important, the diagnosis might not be specific enough to identify diagnostic subcategories to guide a tailored treatment for the patient.

The principles of precision medicine can guide us to improve diagnostic accuracy and deliver high-care value.

This thought leadership paper is part of the Siemens Healthineers Insights Series - The New Normal. It provides ideas and practical solutions on 'Innovating personalized care'.


Low-quality data, non-comprehensive data “snapshots”, non-actionable information, and a siloed approach all limit the ability to make precise, data-driven diagnoses. This thought leadership paper describes these challenges and presents four matching approaches to overcoming them, both for COVID-19 and for the practice of medicine.

Now is the time for healthcare leadership to adopt a precision diagnostic mindset, to embrace the integrated approach to diagnosis, and help their care teams develop robust insights for effective and proactive diagnosis and prevention. 

Printed insights papers on a desk.

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