An audit on the reporting of critical results in a tertiary institute

Rensburg, Megan; Nutt, Louise; Zemlin, Annalise E; Erasmus, Rajiv T

doi:10.1258/acb.2008.008182

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…Critical results need to be communicated to the clinicians and errors may occur here. A study at our institution found a 10.8% error rate with the communication of critical results [56].…”

Section: Communication Of Critical Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Errors in the Extra-Analytical Phases of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Testing

Zemlin

2017

Ind J Clin Biochem

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The total testing process consists of various phases from the pre-preanalytical to the post-postanalytical phase, the so-called brain-to-brain loop. With improvements in analytical techniques and efficient quality control programmes, most laboratory errors now occur in the extra-analytical phases. There has been recent interest in these errors with numerous publications highlighting their effect on service delivery, patient care and cost. This interest has led to the formation of various working groups whose mission is to develop standardized quality indicators which can be used to measure the performance of service of these phases. This will eventually lead to the development of external quality assessment schemes to monitor these phases in agreement with ISO15189:2012 recommendations. This review focuses on potential errors in the extra-analytical phases of clinical chemistry laboratory testing, some of the studies performed to assess the severity and impact of these errors and processes that are in place to address these errors. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of these errors for the requesting clinician.

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“…Critical results need to be communicated to the clinicians and errors may occur here. A study at our institution found a 10.8% error rate with the communication of critical results [56].…”

Section: Communication Of Critical Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Errors in the Extra-Analytical Phases of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Testing

Zemlin

2017

Ind J Clin Biochem

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“…Read-back is imperative because significant error rates have been detected in the process of telephone result communications. 7,8 Additional state, provincial, and local regulations regarding critical value reporting may also exist and can be relevant to an individual laboratory's performance requirements.…”

Section: Regulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathology Consultation on Reporting of Critical Values

Genzen

Tormey

2011

American Journal of Clinical Pathology

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Among the most important functions of a pathology or laboratory medicine service is the clear, accurate, and rapid communication of critical test results (critical values) to patient care providers. Pathologists and laboratory professionals are often confronted with many obstacles in the reporting of such critical values, including establishing clinically relevant criteria for critical values, resolving difficulties in locating an ordering provider when a critical value is obtained, and ensuring that the provider understands the severity and implications of a critical result when he or she has questions. This article presents a hypothetical (yet fairly common) clinical case scenario regarding critical values and then provides an up-to-date discussion and review of the literature on the reporting of critical results.

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“…Patient identification within and between health services is an operational challenge in much of sub-Saharan Africa [ 9 , 10 ]. A survey in 30 health facilities in Rwanda, Burundi, Mali, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of Congo found 93 % of health management teams reported major challenges with patient identification [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study of six health facilities in Rwanda and Burundi found that patient misidentification occurred in 65 % of 1396 patient visits [ 9 ]. A South African study found that errors were relatively infrequent when reporting patient names (6 % of cases) and very high when recording patient folder numbers (in 65 % of cases) in a clinical setting [ 10 ]. A study in Malawi found 34 % of hospital staff reported a misidentification event per year, and only 6 % of staff used identifiers other than name [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of an electronic fingerprint-linked data collection system: a feasibility and acceptability study among Zambian female sex workers

et al. 2015

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BackgroundPatient identification within and between health services is an operational challenge in many resource-limited settings. When following HIV risk groups for service provision and in the context of vaccine trials, patient misidentification can harm patient care and bias trial outcomes. Electronic fingerprinting has been proposed to identify patients over time and link patient data between health services. The objective of this study was to determine 1) the feasibility of implementing an electronic-fingerprint linked data capture system in Zambia and 2) the acceptability of this system among a key HIV risk group: female sex workers (FSWs).MethodsWorking with Biometrac, a US-based company providing biometric-linked healthcare platforms, an electronic fingerprint-linked data capture system was developed for use by field recruiters among Zambian FSWs. We evaluated the technical feasibility of the system for use in the field in Zambia and conducted a pilot study to determine the acceptability of the system, as well as barriers to uptake, among FSWs.ResultsWe found that implementation of an electronic fingerprint-linked patient tracking and data collection system was feasible in this relatively resource-limited setting (false fingerprint matching rate of 1/1000 and false rejection rate of <1/10,000) and was acceptable among FSWs in a clinic setting (2 % refusals). However, our data indicate that less than half of FSWs are comfortable providing an electronic fingerprint when recruited while they are working. The most common reasons cited for not providing a fingerprint (lack of privacy/confidentiality issues while at work, typically at bars or lodges) could be addressed by recruiting women during less busy hours, in their own homes, in the presence of “Queen Mothers” (FSW organizers), or in the presence of a FSW that has already been fingerprinted.ConclusionsOur findings have major implications for key population research and improved health services provision. However, more work needs to be done to increase the acceptability of the electronic fingerprint-linked data capture system during field recruitment. This study indicated several potential avenues that will be explored to increase acceptability.

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An audit on the reporting of critical results in a tertiary institute

Cited by 12 publications

References 3 publications

Errors in the Extra-Analytical Phases of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Testing

Errors in the Extra-Analytical Phases of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Testing

Pathology Consultation on Reporting of Critical Values

Implementation of an electronic fingerprint-linked data collection system: a feasibility and acceptability study among Zambian female sex workers

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