Detection of Pre-Analytical Laboratory Testing Errors

Abstract

A Few years later, after the publication of ‘To Err is Human: building a Safer Health System', patient safety became the major concern of the medical services and for the public. The clinical laboratory is not completely empty of errors, and these errors may affect the patient's health and the health care service. Evidence from studies indicate that a large percentage of laboratory errors occur in the pre-analytical and post-analytical phases. Based on reliable data, laboratories that established ongoing quality monitoring system have low percentage of errors. Most of laboratory errors are attributed to ineffective systems and less attributed to the individual malpractice, thus the laboratory quality improvement programs should focus more on the system in a holistic manner. This chapter aims to explore the critical issues that underpin laboratory errors and in particular the pre-analytical errors and provides some recommendations of ways to overcome such critical domains.