Clinical Chemistry
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Clinical Chemistry 45: 269-280, 1999;
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(Clinical Chemistry. 1999;45:269-280.)
© 1999 American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc.

Articles

System to Monitor a Portion of the Total Testing Process in Medical Clinics and Laboratories: Evaluation of a Split-Specimen Design

Shahram Shahangian1,a, Richard D. Cohn2, Edward E. Gaunt2 and John M. Krolak1

1 Division of Laboratory Systems, Public Health Practice Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341.

2 Statistics and Public Health Research Division, Analytical Sciences, Inc., Durham, NC 27713.
a Address correspondence to this author at: Laboratory Practice Assessment Branch, Division of Laboratory Systems, Public Health Practice Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, Mailstop G-23, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724. Fax 770-488-8275; e-mail sns9{at}cdc.gov.

To evaluate a split-specimen design to identify problems in the testing process in hospital and physician office laboratories, we examined the testing for serum total cholesterol (n = 646) and potassium (n = 732) at 11 medical clinics evaluating 30–199 patients (mean, 125). Clinic personnel collected three tubes of blood from each patient. One specimen was processed routinely, the second was sent to a referral laboratory (RL), and the third specimen was sent to a holding facility for storage. The corresponding stored sample was retrieved and divided into three audit samples randomly and when result difference for the first two specimens exceeded critical values; one audit sample was sent to the original participant, the second to the RL, and the third to a referee laboratory. When three criteria were used, the result discrepancy rates were 2.5–8.7% for potassium and 1.5–4.6% for cholesterol. The split-specimen design could be implemented and evaluated as a monitoring system for a portion of the testing process.




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Home page
 Clin. Chem.Home page
P. Bonini, M. Plebani, F. Ceriotti, and F. Rubboli
Errors in Laboratory Medicine
Clin. Chem., May 1, 2002; 48(5): 691 - 698.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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