Erythrocyte Disorders: Peripheral Smear Review: Introduction

Qualitative reports: Follow-up

  • Any review of a peripheral smear is highly subjective; therefore, each laboratory must establish its own guidelines for quantitating observations and issuing reports in a consistent format.
  • The key question for the laboratory is "How will the clinician use the terms of qualitative results in the reports issued to decide on the next course of action with this patient?" Formats for reporting have been geared more toward the needs of instrumentation facilitation and computer management than toward needs of access and understanding by clinicians working to improve patient care outcomes.
  • Evidence based medicine (EBM) is the formal term used for the process by which research evidence, collective clinical experience, and the user friendly rendering of testing results are integrated to evaluate patient care outcomes.

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