Presented by Karen Day Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland

1. Exploring the role of information
technology systems in
preventing and managing preanalytic laboratory errors
Karen Day, Myriam Soto Lorca, Martin Orr
k.day@auckland.ac.nz
KarenJDay
+64 27 820 1125

2. Today’s presentation
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aim
Background
Methods
What we found
Discussion and conclusions
Recommendations

3. Aim
…to establish how
information technology
systems influence errors
in terms of preventing,
detecting and managing
the occurrence and
consequences of preanalytic laboratory errors

4. Background
Population of Chile - 15,116,435
13,090,113 live in urban areas
Patients attending the lab - 159,100
(795,652 laboratory tests p.a.)
NZ population – 4,330,000
DHB population - 560,000
425,671 laboratory tests p.a.

5. Methods
Interviews covered
•Understanding of pre-analytical errors and relation to patient safety
•Reporting of pre-analytical errors
•Staff participation and costs involved in pre-analytical error
prevention/management
•Managerial reports
•Future use of electronic systems

6. What we found
1. Organisational differences, constraints and
possibilities
• Different contexts
• Limited indirect influence
• IT systems vs manual processes
‘I think that the computer system has helped us to reduce
our errors related to the accuracy of information about
patients. To possess all the information in an accessible
IT system allows us to more easily work on creating
reports...’

7. 2. Concern about reducing errors
•Unanimous
•Scope of concern and reach
•Patient experience
•Quality improvement
‘Although the use of computerised support does not assure
that there will be no error, it substantially decreases the
gap that we have today with the standards of quality and
patient safety...’

8. 3. Differences in information systems and future
considerations
•Value of IT support
•….and it’s about the people and processes
•Training
‘I consider this IT system 'friendly', it allowed us to track
orders from their request, to analyse processing times,
etc. I think the current system could be improved
because, despite it being a technological support, still has
significant manual elements...’

9. Discussion and conclusions
• Manual/electronic
• Influence of context
• Concern about nature and
consequences of errors
• Limitations of the study
Conclusions
•Pre-analytical stage is critical in quality of
analytical and post-analytical stages
•IT systems can add value in reducing errors

10. Future research recommendations
• Organisational influences on laboratory
processes
• What is the potential of e-orders?
• Building IT systems where they don’t already
exist
• Extending the reach of the laboratory to
improve quality of the whole process

11. Thank you!
• Acknowledgements
– Laboratory staff from CCL in Chile
– The DHB laboratory in Auckland

12. k.day@auckland.ac.nz
KarenJDay
+64 27 820 1125