Analytic Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

Medical errors also occur in the analytic processes and systems of patient care. Analytic errors begin with problems in the transportation of medical samples for testing. These occur between the patient's location and the testing facility. They happen during the time between specimen collection and arrival in the testing facility. The possibility for analytic medical error continues through the analytic processes and procedures of medical testing. Analytic medical error also includes systems, processes, and procedures involved in the transmission and reporting of test results. These medical errors occur during the time the laboratory is directly involved in receiving, analyzing, and reporting test samples. Examples: Wrong transport storage or temperature Delay in transport Sample mixup during transport Acceptance of unacceptable samples that are insufficient, hemolyzed, or clotted Centrifugation, mixing, and other test sample preparation errors Wrong test procedures Test control errors Sample mixup during testing Outdated reagents Wrong reagents Test result mixup Transcription errors Data reporting process errors Result report delays

Review calibration of the test instrument.What was the date of the last calibration? Test instruments need to be calibrated according to the manufacturer’s instructions or more frequently if necessary. Federal requirements call for analytic tests to be recalibrated at least every six months to verify the accuracy of the testing procedure.

Errors occur much less frequently in the analytic phase of laboratory testing than in either the preanalytic or postanalytic phases. The supposition of published studies on the error rate in this category is that the percentages remain low primarily because of: The qualifications of testing personnel Effectiveness of internal quality control programs and external assessment practices which assist in identifying analytical errors and detecting possible sources.Following is a list of examples of errors that may be encountered during the analytic testing activities. The list includes both human and instrumentation errors. While random errors (those that occur independently of the operator) may be encountered during the analytic phase, primarily listed are systematic errors. That is, errors that bias the measurement resulting from either instrument malfunctions or human mistakes. Errors in quality control and verification of performance specifications. Instrument malfunctions. Calibration errors causing a direction of bias in results. Manual pipetting errors. Reagent errors. Test interference caused by unsuspected antibodies. Specimen interference i.e. failing to visually see sample was lipemic. Math errors. Staff errors in testing preparation and processing. Inadequate staffing which may precipitate errors caused by fatigue.