Errors in a Stat Laboratory: Types and Frequencies 10 Years Later

In view of increasing attention focused on patient safety and the need to reduce laboratory errors, it is important that clinical laboratories collect statistics on error occurrence rates over the whole testing cycle, including pre-, intra-, and postanalytical phases.

The present study was conducted in 2006 according to the design we previously used in 1996 to monitor the error rates for laboratory testing in 4 different departments (internal medicine, nephrology, surgery, and intensive care). For 3 months, physicians and nurses were asked to pay careful attention to all test results. Any suspected laboratory error was recorded with associated pertinent clinical information. Every day, a laboratory physician visited the 4 departments and a critical appraisal was made of any suspect results.