A survey of patients’ views from eight European countries of interpretive support from Specialists in Laboratory Medicine

Abstract

Background: There is increasing interest in direct patient engagement including receiving their laboratory medicine results. We previously established an appetite for Specialists in Laboratory Medicine to support patients in understanding results. The aim of this study was to establish whether patients agreed with such an approach, determined through surveying views in eight European countries. Methods: A standardized five-question survey was administered across eight European countries to a total of 1084 individuals attending medical outpatient clinics, with 100 patients each in Poland, Serbia, Netherlands, Turkey and Czech Republic, 101 in Estonia, 116 in Denmark and 367 in Norway. The responses across countries were compared using the chi-square test (p < 0.05).

International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis core curriculum project: Core competencies in laboratory thrombosis and hemostasis

“…The European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine has established a working group on Patient Focused Laboratory Medicine to determine a strategy to provide appropriate interpretative comments for all laboratory results to allow for patient understanding. 6 The German-speaking Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis Research (GTH) 7 also established a permanent working group to standardize and improve technology and interpretation of coagulation analyses. Moreover, the Argentine Cooperative Group on Haemostasis and Thrombosis (CAHT Group) 8 created a Laboratory Working Group to identify difficulties and needs faced by hemostasis laboratories, as well as discuss and agree on actions to improve performance.…”

“…9,10 Strategies for selecting appropriate tests and performing state-ofthe-art diagnostic procedures to include appropriate and meaningful interpretation of hemostasis and thrombosis laboratory results are essential to ensure that referring clinician and patients understand the results, especially as the selection of optimized diagnostic pathways and reporting of laboratory results to patients will become more commonplace moving forward. 6,11 While some medical regulatory bodies identify a limited number of thrombosis and hemostasis laboratory competencies for medically trained individuals, non-physician trained specialists are not regulated through the same governing bodies as physicians, thus minimal guidance is provided by regional and national governing bodies on expectations for a thrombosis and hemostasis laboratory specialist. Published literature is limited related to competencies in the area of thrombosis and hemostasis, and there is a need for collaborative approaches with professional organizations, academia, and policy makers to build leadership and competencies within laboratory medicine, especially given the continual introduction of novel technologies into laboratories.…”

“…There is, however, minimal guidance on the international training of the individuals producing coagulation measurements and providing diagnostic interpretations. The European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine has established a working group on Patient Focused Laboratory Medicine to determine a strategy to provide appropriate interpretative comments for all laboratory results to allow for patient understanding . The German‐speaking Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis Research (GTH) also established a permanent working group to standardize and improve technology and interpretation of coagulation analyses.…”

“…International harmonization also improves quality of laboratory diagnostics . Strategies for selecting appropriate tests and performing state‐of‐the‐art diagnostic procedures to include appropriate and meaningful interpretation of hemostasis and thrombosis laboratory results are essential to ensure that referring clinician and patients understand the results, especially as the selection of optimized diagnostic pathways and reporting of laboratory results to patients will become more commonplace moving forward …”

An overview of EFLM harmonization activities in Europe

“…The main objective of this WG is promoting patient engagement with Specialists in Laboratory Medicine. This is currently being addressed through surveying the views of patients receiving their own laboratory results and who might be best placed to communicate them [31] and how, which has implications for harmonization; the Group is also embarking on a project that should ultimately help harmonize the criteria to judge the acceptability of mobile phone and computer apps that incorporate laboratory medicine data.…”