Multidisciplinary training activities for decreasing preanalytical mistakes in samples from primary care.

Area of Science:

• Clinical Laboratory Science
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare
• Preanalytical Sample Quality

Background:

• Preanalytical mistakes (PM) in primary care samples are a persistent challenge.
• Existing strategies to reduce PM have shown variable success.
• Multidisciplinary clinical update sessions were implemented to address PM rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of multidisciplinary clinical update sessions in reducing preanalytical mistakes (PM).
• To compare PM rates in samples from primary care centres (PCC) before and after intervention.
• To identify common types of PM at two different hospital laboratories.

Main Methods:

• Assessed PM incidence in PCC samples at two laboratories (LAB1, LAB2) during two periods (Oct-Nov 2013, Jan-May 2014).
• Conducted clinical update sessions between the assessment periods (2014).
• Compared PM rates between the observation periods to determine intervention impact.

Main Results:

• A significant reduction in PM rates was observed at LAB1 in 2015 compared to 2014.
• PM rates slightly increased at LAB2 in 2015 compared to 2014.
• The most frequent PMs were haemolysed samples at LAB1 and missed samples at LAB2.

Conclusions:

• Clinical update sessions led to a significant PM reduction at LAB1, primarily for haemolysed samples.
• PM rates increased at LAB2, with missed samples being the main issue, potentially due to transport problems.
• Regular update sessions and improved sample transportation are recommended to further reduce PM.