Question

Please answer the following assignment in less than 500 words. I want a brand-new assignment.
In clinical laboratory testing, how can we minimize pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical errors?

Answer 1

The clinical laboratory plays an important role in the process of blood and to provide good healthcare services. The test includes process of ordering a test for a patient to delivering the test results by the clinician. There are three stages in the process of laboratory testing.

-Pre-analytical that includes request for test, patient identification, specimen identification, collection of specimen, transport, and processing

-Analytical stage includes the testing of the specimen

-Post-analytical is the reporting stage of test results, interpretation of the results, following up, storage, retesting if needed.

Any error during these stages can affect patient care, misdiagnosis and improper treatment that may even be fatal. Measures need to be taken to minimize errors in all the three stages of lab testing.

Minimizing pre analytical errors can be done by proper training and quality control measures. The steps that can be taken to minimize these errors are:

-Proper training classes to know the current advancements in technologies and also to be well educated about the developments in the laboratory testing procedures. The clinicians should be aware of the effect of the pre analytical errors in the quality of testing.

-Technological advancements in the field of testing can be used such as using barcodes, identification of patients by radiofrequency identification or wristbands. Human interaction is always prone to human errors .So automated workstations for specimen labeling and management, phlebotomy tray preparation etc. can reduce the rate of errors caused by humans.

- Choosing right products for blood collection and testing and standardization of the products used for collection also can be done.

-The labs should adhere to quality guidelines and procedures and there should be written explanations about the procedures in lab.

-Always validate any new equipment before pre analyzing.

-Always monitor the quality of the labs and take corrective measures to reduce any error.

Analytical errors may include procedural errors, errors in measurement of results, transcriptional errors or calculation errors. Minimizing analytical errors requires following steps:

-Instruments used for testing should be calibrated regularly and against the reference standards.

-The chemicals or reagents used for analysis should be of high purity.

-The methods used should be standardized and validated before the testing.

-The results obtained should be compared using different methods.

-The human errors like observing the color changes, reading or transcription errors can be minimized by proper training .Also an increase in sample size can help retest if needed.

Post analytical error includes errors in reporting or transcriptional errors and data entry errors.To minimize these errors the following steps can be taken:

-Timely quality monitoring of post analytical process.

-Monitoring the ratings of patients and changes should be made as per the patient ratings.

-Usage of e-record systems.

-Delay in delivery of results should be avoided. Critical results should be reported as soon as possible.

-Reporting timelines can be maintained. Automatic transmission of reports to patients by means of electronic methods helps minimize data entry errors.

-Standardizing the format of reporting the results.

These errors are not inevitable but can be minimized by following these procedures to give accurate and precise test results.