Is it safe to have a laboratory test?

Boone, D. Joe

doi:10.1007/s00769-004-0855-5

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…While the IOM report presented few data on errors in laboratory medicine, it has wide-reaching implications for all disciplines. The TTP consists of a series of interrelated processes, each involving a series of process steps, every one of which can result in an error (10). The evidence reported can be translated into a better understanding of the importance of the total testing process (TTP) as the right framework for patient safety in laboratory services.…”

Section: What Have We Learned Regarding Errors In Laboratory Medicine?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Errors in laboratory medicine and patient safety: the road ahead

Plebani¹

2007

Clinical Chemical Laboratory Medicine

113

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The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, To err is human, galvanized a dramatically increased level of concern about adverse events and patient safety in healthcare, including errors in laboratory medicine. While a significant decrease in the error rates of clinical laboratories has been achieved and documented in recent decades, available evidence demonstrates that the pre- and post-analytical phases of the total testing process are more vulnerable to errors than the analytical phase. However, analytical quality is still a major issue, particularly in some areas of laboratory medicine such as immunoassaying. In the present paper, current trends and factors that could effect future changes in the frequency and types of errors in laboratory services are analyzed and discussed. A more effective integration of automation and information technology could allow clinical laboratories to identify, control and decrease error rates in the total testing process, but interdepartmental cooperation and communication with clinicians and other stakeholders are essential to improving patient safety. Moreover, a fundamental shift in improving patient safety in laboratory medicine is to move from error reporting to risk management.

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Section: What Have We Learned Regarding Errors In Laboratory Medicine?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Errors in laboratory medicine and patient safety: the road ahead

Plebani¹

2007

Clinical Chemical Laboratory Medicine

113

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“…Delays in turn-around time (TAT) are the most common complaint that laboratories receive from clinicians (2), and as many as 87% of these complaints originate from Emergency Department (ED) clinicians (3). This is understandable because up to 80%-90% of medical decisions are based on laboratory data (4)(5)(6). For laboratories to meet these expectations, specimen quality and the time required to obtain a suitable specimen (serum/plasma) for biochemical analysis are key factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the Becton-Dickinson rapid serum tube: does it provide a suitable alternative to lithium heparin plasma tubes?

Dimeski¹,

Masci

Trabi³

et al. 2010

Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine

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Background: Obtaining a suitable specimen for analysis in a timely manner is pivotal in clinical chemistry service provision. Serum is recognized as the preferred specimen for most assays, but because of time constraints for completion of clotting and an increasing number of patients on anticoagulant therapy, latent clotting or no clotting is an outcome which can lead to errors and delay in delivery of critical results. Although lithium heparin plasma has unique problems, it has become an alternative in hospital-based laboratories. Methods: The Becton-Dickinson (BD) rapid serum tube (RST) was evaluated in a hospital environment using a total of 53 participants, both healthy and anticoagulated, for 31 analytes against BD PST II and BD SST II tubes measured with Beckman DxC800 and DxI800 analyzers. Results: Most results from the RST tube were comparable with those from the SST II tube. Potassium results were closer to the PST II plasma concentrations. Incomplete and latent clotting was encountered in the RST specimens from participants (cardiac and dialysis) who had received a total of )7000 units of heparin wactivated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) )150 sx, warfarin/heparin combination, and specimens from cardiac surgery patients who had received a

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“…Modern medical interventions rely heavily on laboratory testing; 13 hence, the quality of these services can have crucial repercussions on patient safety and the effectiveness of treatments. Quality assurance becomes especially critical in tertiary cancer care centers that offer advanced therapies for intractable cancers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%