Nurses, pagers, and patient-specific criteria: three keys to improved critical value reporting

Area of Science:

• Clinical Informatics
• Laboratory Medicine
• Healthcare Communication Systems

Background:

• Effective and timely communication of critical laboratory values is essential for patient safety.
• Traditional reporting methods can be prone to delays and errors.
• Developing efficient systems for critical value notification is a priority in healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel computerized critical value reporting system utilizing digital pagers.
• To assess the system's efficiency in delivering patient-specific critical results to clinicians.
• To determine the impact of the system on clinical awareness of critical values.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of a critical value reporting system at LDS Hospital.
• Patient-specific criteria were established for identifying critical values.
• System performance was evaluated over a defined period (October 23, 1993, to January 21, 1994).

Main Results:

• 100% of critical values (335 alerts) were reported to clinicians.
• Average reporting time was 38.6 minutes, with 51% of alerts received within 12 minutes.
• 92% of alerts were valid, 76% reached primary care nurses, and 67% of nurses were previously unaware of the critical value.

Conclusions:

• The computerized digital pager system effectively and rapidly reports critical lab values.
• The system enhances clinical awareness and timely intervention for critical patient results.
• Digital pager technology offers a viable solution for improving critical value communication in hospitals.