Reporting and Documenting Laboratory Critical Test Results

Source: Joint Commission Perspectives on Patient Safety, Volume 6, Number 7, July 2006, pp. 9-18(10)

 

Like many organizations, the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) struggled to improve its processes for communicating laboratory critical test results. UWHC put an end to their struggles by taking the collaborative approach and getting staff input when designing new processes for reporting and documenting critical test results. This case study follows UWHC's efforts to find an effective way to report, document, and measure the timeliness of critical test results that meets each department's unique needs and adapts existing practices so as not to create extra, unnecessary work.