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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2021; 13(02): 169-174
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1729473
Original Article

Quality Indicators for Evaluating Errors in the Preanalytical Phase

Mohit Mehndiratta
1   Department of Biochemistry, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Eram Hussain Pasha
1   Department of Biochemistry, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, New Delhi, India
,
Nilesh Chandra
2   Clinical Biochemistry, Clinical Diagnostic Centre, Delhi, India
,
Edelbert Anthonio Almeida
1   Department of Biochemistry, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, New Delhi, India
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Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to study the incidence of preanalytical errors in the clinical chemistry laboratory attached to a tertiary care hospital.

Design and Methods The study was conducted in a clinical chemistry laboratory using the samples and forms received for analysis. Five hundred random samples were analyzed using a predefined set of quality indicators (QIs) over a period of 3 months. The incidence of each preanalytical error was described as a percentage of the total samples analyzed in the study.

Statistical Analysis Individual QIs were assigned values as 0 and 1 and were used to assess each sample; 0 if the error was present, and 1 if absent. The incidence of each preanalytical error was described as a percentage of the total samples analyzed in the study.

Result Out of the 500 samples observed, 138 samples were error free, while 21 samples had the maximum number of errors, that is, 6. The error committed most often was the omission of provisional diagnosis being mentioned on the requisition form. No preanalytical error was observed for QIs: selecting the appropriate blood collection vial or storage of sample.

Conclusion This study confirms that error rate in the preanalytical phase is high and vastly ignored. Errors committed here may be overlooked, given the large number of samples received in the clinical laboratory of a tertiary center. To reduce these errors, the laboratory should provide training to all workers involved in the preanalytical phase. Daily or weekly QI scores should be recorded to assess and rectify shortcomings, thereby improving patient care.

Keywords

quality indicators - preanalytical phase - laboratory errors - patient care

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
26 May 2021

© 2021. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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