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A prospective tool for risk assessment of sendout testing
Bonnie Cole1, Jane A Dickerson2, Mark L Graber3
1Department of Laboratories, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, United States; Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.
Summary
A new prospective tool helps identify risks in laboratory sendout testing, a process prone to errors. This assessment tool is useful and easy to use, aiding quality improvement efforts.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Laboratory Science
- Patient Safety
- Diagnostic Error Reduction
Background:
- Laboratory testing errors pose significant patient harm risks.
- Sendout testing, involving external reference laboratories, is high-risk due to complexity and manual processes.
- No prospective tools currently exist for assessing sendout testing risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and pilot a novel prospective tool for assessing diagnostic error risks in laboratory sendout testing.
- To evaluate the tool's utility and usability across multiple clinical sites.
Main Methods:
- A new prospective risk assessment tool was created for laboratory sendout testing.
- The tool was piloted and evaluated at nine different healthcare sites.
Main Results:
- The pilot revealed significant diversity in quality metrics and utilization management practices among sites.
- Most sites had test ordering committees but lacked consistent rule enforcement.
- Few sites routinely tracked clinician failure to retrieve test results.
- The developed tool was found to be useful and easy to implement.
Conclusions:
- The novel prospective tool can help laboratories identify high-risk areas in sendout testing.
- This risk identification can guide targeted quality improvement initiatives and resource allocation.
- Adoption of this tool can enhance patient safety by mitigating diagnostic errors.
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