Patient safety and the preanalytic phase of testing

The preanalytic phase of testing includes a variety of procedural steps and variables that affect the patient and the test results. During the preanalytic phase, the patient may be directly harmed or injured. Failures of technique during the preanalytic phase lead to incorrect laboratory results, which threaten the patient's health. This article highlights key problems in the preanalytic phase and offers plans to reduce the problems based on a review of the literature. The key problem areas include: order entry, patient identification, phlebotomy-induced suffering and injury, medical vampirism, and dangerously inaccurate test results caused by failures in preanalytic technique.