Abstract
Introduction
The Key Incident Monitoring and Management System (KIMMS) was established by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Program to monitor the pre-analytical and post-analytical phase of the pathology test process. Haemolysis is one of the most common types of pre-analytical errors. The presence of haemolysed specimens has major implications for the quality and safety of patient care and constitutes an area of major importance for pathology laboratories in Australia and internationally. The aims of this project were to: a) evaluate the prevalence of haemolysis rejections in 68 KIMMS participating laboratories across Australia; and b) examine the variation in the prevalence over time.
Methods
Sixteen quarterly haemolysis reports covering a total period of four calendar years (2011–2014) were analysed. The haemolysis rate was calculated by dividing the number of haemolysis rejections by the number of accessions.
Results
Sixty-eight laboratories across Australia participated and reported haemolysis rejection errors to the KIMMS. Haemolysis rates varied according to the reporting methods that participants used for assigning accessions (by specimen or episode) and counting haemolysis rejections (by specimen, episode or test). More than half the laboratories (n=38) assigned accession by episode and counted rejections by specimen. For this group, the average haemolysis rate was 18 rejected specimens per 10,000 test episodes. This rate varied from 10 to 23 rejected specimens per 10,000 episodes over 16 reporting quarters.
Conclusion
To our knowledge, KIMMS comprises the largest nation-wide haemolysis rejection dataset in the world. However, there is a need to standardise reporting methods to make it possible to compare haemolysis rejection rates across different laboratories in Australia. Since haemolysis can affect the integrity of the specimen and the reliability of laboratory results, standardised reporting of the occurrence of haemolysis may support improvement of the quality and efficiency of the pre-analytical laboratory process.
The Key Incident Monitoring and Management System (KIMMS) was established by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Program to monitor the pre-analytical and post-analytical phase of the pathology test process. Haemolysis is one of the most common types of pre-analytical errors. The presence of haemolysed specimens has major implications for the quality and safety of patient care and constitutes an area of major importance for pathology laboratories in Australia and internationally. The aims of this project were to: a) evaluate the prevalence of haemolysis rejections in 68 KIMMS participating laboratories across Australia; and b) examine the variation in the prevalence over time.
Methods
Sixteen quarterly haemolysis reports covering a total period of four calendar years (2011–2014) were analysed. The haemolysis rate was calculated by dividing the number of haemolysis rejections by the number of accessions.
Results
Sixty-eight laboratories across Australia participated and reported haemolysis rejection errors to the KIMMS. Haemolysis rates varied according to the reporting methods that participants used for assigning accessions (by specimen or episode) and counting haemolysis rejections (by specimen, episode or test). More than half the laboratories (n=38) assigned accession by episode and counted rejections by specimen. For this group, the average haemolysis rate was 18 rejected specimens per 10,000 test episodes. This rate varied from 10 to 23 rejected specimens per 10,000 episodes over 16 reporting quarters.
Conclusion
To our knowledge, KIMMS comprises the largest nation-wide haemolysis rejection dataset in the world. However, there is a need to standardise reporting methods to make it possible to compare haemolysis rejection rates across different laboratories in Australia. Since haemolysis can affect the integrity of the specimen and the reliability of laboratory results, standardised reporting of the occurrence of haemolysis may support improvement of the quality and efficiency of the pre-analytical laboratory process.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | A19 |
| Pages (from-to) | S22 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | Clinical Biochemist Reviews |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 4 Supplement |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2016 |
| Event | Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists 54th Annual Scientific Conference - Brisbane, Australia Duration: 13 Sept 2016 → 15 Sept 2016 |