Newswise — This past week, Dr. Cari Oliver, President of Cautious Patient Foundation spoke at the 5th annual international conference Diagnostic Errors in Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Maryland. Dr. Oliver shared her beliefs that patients must take part in their care to reduce medical errors and improve outcomes. “Doctors are too often treating patients while following the money” she said to the audience filled with almost all physicians. “They don’t always have the patient’s best interest at heart”.

Oliver went on to challenge the doctors in the audience to stand up to corrupt healthcare and encourage patients to be the center of attention.

Cautious Patient Foundation recently launched Cautious Patient Communities where patients can gather for a series of meetings to help each other navigate through the healthcare system for better outcomes.

According to the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, diagnostic error, defined as wrong, missed or delayed medical diagnosis, occurs in 10-15% of cases. “Involved patient’s can play a role in reducing these numbers” says Ilene Corina, Director of Community Outreach, Cautious Patient Foundation.