Question

You order labs for Jane Smith. After drawing her blood, you bring the bloodwork back to the lab for testing. When putting the results in the computer, you discover that the tests were ordered under the wrong patient with the same name. Is this a preanalytical, analytical or postanalytical error? Explain what each is? What can be done to avoid this from happening again? What should you do to rectify the situation?

Answer 1

The error that occurred here is pre analytical error cause the error occurred during the collection of the specimen which is before the testing process and comes under pre analytical phase.

There are three types of errors or variables that can occur during laboratory testing depending upon the phase in which they occur. They are

• Pre analytical errors: These are the errors that occur before the testing of the sample like during the collection, transport, preparation, preservation etc.
• Analytical errors: These are the errors that occur during the testing process. They are errors depending on the type of test, machine errors, technique errors, human errors etc.
• Post analytical errors: These errors occur after the testing process is completed. These are errors during entry, during transport of results, errors in communication, manipulation of results and so on.

These kind of errors can be avoided by double checking before the collection and transport of the samples. In this case the error occurred due to the same name. So instead of just relying solely on the name of the patient, they have to check the admission number of the patient or any other unique identification. This minimises the errors that occur due to the confusion between patient having same name.

In this case the tests were ordered under the wrong patient. So we have to first inform the error to the concerned people as soon as possible and reorder the tests for the required patient. Make sure the results are attained as quick as possible for the new sample. Have the complaint documented to avoid any future legal issues.

This is a brief overview on the given topic.Hope this helps you out. Please feel free to give your feedback and if you need further elaborate explanation. Thank you and have a great day.