Improving the quality of information on pathology request                forms

Burnett, Leslie; Chesher, Douglas; Mudaliar, Yugan

doi:10.1258/000456304322664708

Cited by 20 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The practice of manually completing request forms, as carried out in the hospital assessed in this study, may be a contributing factor to this type of error. This was corroborated by a previous study which highlighted that manual completion of forms can lead to insufficient, incorrect or illegible data on such request forms [8].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Identification of Pre-examination Errors in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory at the University Hospital of the West Indies

2013

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This study evaluated the types and frequencies of pre-examination errors recorded in the chemical pathology laboratory at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica. This was a retrospective analysis of errors recorded over a three year period. Data analysis was done on an average of 519,084 samples collected and tested per year. Samples included blood, urine, stool and other fluids. Pre-examination errors were identified and recorded following visual inspection of the samples and corresponding request forms by laboratory staff, then subsequently by the Senior Medical Technologist. Errors were generally classified as inappropriate sample (58 %), inappropriate form (23.4 %), inappropriate sample volume (9.3 %) and inappropriate sample tube (9.3 %). Over 90 % of recorded preexamination errors were related to blood samples while urine samples accounted for 6.8 % error. Pre-examination errors were lower at this study location than elsewhere. Measures aimed at reducing instances of these errors are recommended for improved laboratory quality output.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Identification of Pre-examination Errors in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory at the University Hospital of the West Indies

2013

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“…Similar work on the generic pathology request form has been published, which also found that doctor contact details were frequently being missed, 1 as well as doctor name and signature. 2 This second study by Burnett et al found that by introducing self-inking stamps the proportion of doctor details missed could be reduced from 43 to 2%, but we have achieved comparable outcomes with our strategy of improving the form and user awareness. A further study by Zemlin et al 3 in the field of endocrinology confirms that neglecting to give relevant drug information on the laboratory request form limits the pathologists ability to infer the correct clinical diagnosis.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Improving the interaction between the ophthalmology and histopathology departments

Maudgil

Salvi

Tan

et al. 2011

Eye

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to improve communication between the ophthalmology and histopathology departments at Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, by effectively changing the structure and completion of the histopathology request form through the process of a successful audit. This aimed to ensure that comprehensive information was made available to the histopathologist. Methods An audit was performed by review of 710 histopathology request forms, completed by the ophthalmology department, over a 1-year period, between July 2005 and June 2006 inclusive. Results were used to re-model the ophthalmic histopathology request form. New forms were circulated and all forms completed over a 3-month period, between January 2008 and March 2008, were reviewed, thus closing the audit loop. Results On the basis of audit results of 710 histopathology request forms, a new histopathology request form was created, which was easier to complete. Review of the 224 new histopathology request forms showed improved percentages of completion of important sections of the form. Conclusions Through the audit process we have created a new ophthalmic histopathology request form that is more user-friendly for the ophthalmologist and more consistently provides the necessary information for the ophthalmic histopathologist. This has improved efficiency and effectiveness of communication between the specialities, which should contribute to minimise the chances of medical error and improved turnaround times for the planning and delivery of patient care.

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“…Misidentification of either the patient or the requested test have also been encountered frequently. 14 The LRF not only provides information about the laboratory test being requested, but is also used to communicate results back to physicians and patients. The standard LRF contains demographic data and other information, such as location of the patient, laboratory information, physician’s name and signature, telephone number of the requesting physician, amongst others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…16 In Australia, planned interventions and sustained improvements in compliance with standards resulted in an immediate reduction in the proportion of incomplete LRFs, from 43% to 2%. 14 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating laboratory request forms submitted to haematology and blood transfusion departments at a hospital in Northwest Nigeria

Jegede

Mbah²,

Dakata

et al. 2016

Afr J Lab Med

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BackgroundThe laboratory request form (LRF) is a communication link between laboratories, requesting physicians and users of laboratory services. Inadequate information or errors arising from the process of filling out LRFs can significantly impact the quality of laboratory results and, ultimately, patient outcomes.ObjectiveWe assessed routinely-submitted LRFs to determine the degree of correctness, completeness and consistency.MethodsLRFs submitted to the Department of Haematology (DH) and Blood Transfusion Services (BTS) of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, Nigeria, between October 2014 and December 2014, were evaluated for completion of all items on the forms. Performance in four quality indicator domains, including patient identifiers, test request details, laboratory details and physician details, was derived as a composite percentage.ResultsOf the 2084 LRFs evaluated, 999 were from DH and 1085 from BTS. Overall, LRF completeness was 89.5% for DH and 81.2% for BTS. Information on patient name, patient location and laboratory number were 100% complete for DH, whereas only patient name was 100% complete for BTS. Incomplete information was mostly encountered on BTS forms for physician’s signature (60.8%) and signature of laboratory receiver (63.5%). None of the DH and only 9.4% of BTS LRFs met all quality indicator indices.ConclusionThe level of completion of LRFs from these two departments was suboptimal. This underscores the need to review and redesign the LRF, improve on training and communication between laboratory and clinical staff and review specimen rejection practices.

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Improving the quality of information on pathology request forms

Abstract: This study describes a simple and low-cost solution to one of the causes of incomplete pathology request forms. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of systems improvement in health care.

Cited by 20 publications

References 7 publications

Identification of Pre-examination Errors in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory at the University Hospital of the West Indies

Identification of Pre-examination Errors in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory at the University Hospital of the West Indies

Improving the interaction between the ophthalmology and histopathology departments

Evaluating laboratory request forms submitted to haematology and blood transfusion departments at a hospital in Northwest Nigeria

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