Pathologist/Researcher Offers Two Suggestions to Reduce Inappropriate Testing and Improve Patient Safety
Whether either or both of these suggestions can be put into practice is the challenge most clinical laboratories face
For Pathologist Ramy A. Arnaout, MD, DPhil, one of the biggest issues all pathologists face today is how to overcome the breakdown in cooperation between pathologists and referring physicians that can cause patient harm.
An Associate Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Arnaout was a panel member during a webinar in December sponsored by STAT News and T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. During the webinar, “Medical Tests: Inaccuracies, Risks and the Public’s Health,” Arnaout explained that when errors occur in a lab, they usually happen during test selection and result interpretation, sometimes called the “pre-pre-analytical” and “post-post-analytical” phases. In these two phases of the lab-testing process, pathologists and ordering physicians need to collaborate more closely to help avoid errors and reduce the level of patient harm, he explained. (more…)
