Quality improvement to decrease specimen mislabeling in transfusion medicine

Proper specimen identification and labeling is a critical preanalytic step in pretransfusion compatibility testing.

To gather baseline data for specimen mislabeling, specifically targeting major mislabeling events, and to design and implement a plan of corrective action.

All mislabeled specimens received by the transfusion service for a type and screen were recorded and classified into minor and major mislabeling categories. Major mislabeling events were tracked by origin of the specimen. Locations with a high proportion of major mislabeling were given timely feedback (within 1 week) of the events as they arose.

A university hospital.

The incidence of major mislabeling.

The incidence of mislabeling in the transfusion service was 0.5% (243/49 955) during 21 months of data collection. Of these mislabeling events, 47% were classified as major events (unlabeled, mismatched specimen/ requisition, ABO/Rh result on current specimen not matching historical record on file). The emergency department accounted for a high proportion of these major mislabeling events. After the intervention of providing weekly feedback to emergency department staff, their contribution to major mislabeling fell from 47% in 1 year (23/49) to 14% (4/29) in the subsequent 3 quarters.

Collecting and trending data on mislabeled samples with timely feedback to patient care areas can change phlebotomy practice and reduce specimen mislabeling.