Brazilian laboratory indicators benchmarking program: three-year experience on pre-analytical quality indicators.

Area of Science:

• Laboratory Medicine
• Quality Improvement
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• The pre-analytical phase in laboratory medicine is highly vulnerable to errors, impacting patient safety.
• Interlaboratory comparison and benchmarking are established strategies for identifying best practices and driving continuous improvement.
• The Benchmarking Program and Laboratory Indicators (PBIL) program was established to address these challenges in laboratory medicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the three-year experience (2016-2018) of the PBIL program, focusing on pre-analytical indicators.
• To compare PBIL pre-analytical indicators against literature references and other international benchmarking programs.
• To identify critical pre-analytical activities for enhancing patient safety within the laboratory medicine sector.

Main Methods:

• Utilized performance data from 180 participating laboratories.
• Employed Sigma metric and Pareto Charts to quantify and identify pre-analytical failures.
• Compared PBIL Sigma metric results with the IFCC Working Group Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety (WG LEPS) using Radar Charts.

Main Results:

• Over 80% of pre-analytical failures were linked to Blood culture contamination, Recollect, and Non-registered exams.
• Participant performance aligned with literature benchmarks, with some indicators showing best practices.
• Identified specific benchmarks within the laboratory medicine market through the PBIL program.

Conclusions:

• An ongoing comparative performance-monitoring program, like PBIL, is vital for setting robust goals and reducing laboratory failures.
• Despite progress, significant pre-analytical failures persist in the market, indicating a need for further process optimization.
• Contextualized analysis of program indicators is essential for implementing effective improvements in laboratory processes.