Informal peer diagnostic second opinion: hospitalist practices and perspectives.

Team-based care and communication improve diagnosis for in-patients. This cross-sectional survey of 338 hospitalists and Advanced Practice Providers across 13 hospitals examines peer second-opinion practices addressing diagnostic uncertainty. The results find half of the participating clinicians regularly sought second opinions, and nearly all felt psychologically safe doing so and believed it improved accuracy. The main obstacles highlighted were time constraints and averseness to inconvenience colleagues; less experienced clinicians more often cited feeling vulnerable. Strengthening peer consultation systems could improve diagnostic teamwork, however, the majority of respondents were physicians.