http://www.darkdaily.com/five-rights-of-laboratory-testing#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed DARK Daily is a concise e-news/management briefing on timely topics in clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology group management. It is a solution to the dilemma facing anyone in the laboratory profession. Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:10:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.darkdaily.com/five-rights-of-laboratory-testing/comment-page-1#comment-1478 P. Epner Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:05:33 +0000 http://www.darkdaily.com/ebriefings/?p=1499#comment-1478 They are to be commended for their effort to spotlight the Laboratory’s role in improved patient care. Although I recognize the need to have a brevity and rhythm to campaigns, simplicity can sometimes send an incomplete message. Sunquest lists the third right as the “right time.” That is a complex topic that should not be minimized. Too often, laboratories consider their responsibility to be limited to an appropriate turnaround time that begins with sample accessioning and ends with result release. Although typical, it’s a very lab-centric approach. A patient-centric approach would include ordering the test at the earliest appropriate time; determining the result with the shortest lag possible between order and result; and acting upon the result at the first appropriate opportunity. If laboratorians are to be more patient-centric, they need to exert leadership throughout the total testing process to ensure that the “right time” meets the patient need and not just the clinician’s need. They are to be commended for their effort to spotlight the Laboratory’s role in improved patient care. Although I recognize the need to have a brevity and rhythm to campaigns, simplicity can sometimes send an incomplete message. Sunquest lists the third right as the “right time.” That is a complex topic that should not be minimized. Too often, laboratories consider their responsibility to be limited to an appropriate turnaround time that begins with sample accessioning and ends with result release. Although typical, it’s a very lab-centric approach. A patient-centric approach would include ordering the test at the earliest appropriate time; determining the result with the shortest lag possible between order and result; and acting upon the result at the first appropriate opportunity. If laboratorians are to be more patient-centric, they need to exert leadership throughout the total testing process to ensure that the “right time” meets the patient need and not just the clinician’s need.

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