Leslie Burnett1, Douglas Chesher, Yugan Mudaliar. 1. Pacific Laboratory Medicine Services, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards NSW 2065, Australia. Lburnett@med.usyd.edu.au
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We have investigated the causes of incomplete pathology request forms received at our clinical chemistry laboratory. Based on a request form audit we found that the data most frequently missing from a pathology request form was the doctor's name, unique identification provider number, or signature. METHODS: We examined the effect of issuing the requesting doctors with self-inking stamps personalized with their name and a unique provider number. RESULTS: The intervention led to an immediate and sustained improvement in compliance, with the proportion of incomplete forms falling from 43% to 2%. In contrast, distribution of a memorandum alone made no significant change to the number of pathology request forms with incomplete data arriving at the laboratory. CONCLUSION: This study describes a simple and low-cost solution to one of the causes of incomplete pathology request forms. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of systems improvement in health care.
BACKGROUND: We have investigated the causes of incomplete pathology request forms received at our clinical chemistry laboratory. Based on a request form audit we found that the data most frequently missing from a pathology request form was the doctor's name, unique identification provider number, or signature. METHODS: We examined the effect of issuing the requesting doctors with self-inking stamps personalized with their name and a unique provider number. RESULTS: The intervention led to an immediate and sustained improvement in compliance, with the proportion of incomplete forms falling from 43% to 2%. In contrast, distribution of a memorandum alone made no significant change to the number of pathology request forms with incomplete data arriving at the laboratory. CONCLUSION: This study describes a simple and low-cost solution to one of the causes of incomplete pathology request forms. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of systems improvement in health care.
Authors: Feyisayo Jegede; Henry A Mbah; Ado Dakata; Dalhatu H Gwarzo; Surajudeen A Abdulrahman; Aisha Kuliya-Gwarzo Journal: Afr J Lab Med Date: 2016-05-12