Objectives: Specific types of error should be identified and corrected in each laboratory to ensure quality results. The objectives of this study were:
Design and methods: Data on rejected biological specimens in the laboratory information system from January 2013 to January 2014 were analyzed. SSRs according to the type of pre-preanalytical error and collection area were determined.
Results: In total, 971,780 biological specimens were received during the period and 26,070 (2.7%) specimens were rejected based on our laboratory rejection criteria. The most frequent reason for the rejection was the clotted specimen (55.8% of total rejections), followed by inadequate volume (29.3% of total rejections). Most of the clotted specimens were received from adult hospital inpatient services (54.3%), followed by pediatric hospital inpatient services (26.8%). High rates of inadequate volume were also observed in samples originating from adult and pediatric hospital inpatient services, especially in the premature, neonatal, intensive care, and oncology units.
Conclusions: The SSR of clotted specimens was selected as the QI for the preanalytical phase in our laboratory. The selected QI will help to define the effects of our specific interventions and corrective actions, and thus allow monitoring of quality improvement in our hospitals.
Keywords: Clinical laboratory; Patient safety; Pre-preanalytical errors; Quality indicator; Specimen rejection.
Copyright © 2014 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.