Course Outline
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- Six Aims of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to Improve the Quality of Healthcare
- The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Aims Within the Context of Quality Clinical Laboratory Services
- Clinical Laboratory Services and Safety
- How might patient harm result from each of these problems related to clinical laboratory services? Consider your answer and then click on the defined ...
- Clinical Laboratory Services and Effectiveness
- Clinical Laboratory Services and Patient-centered Care
- Clinical Laboratory Services and Timeliness
- Clinical Laboratory Services and Efficiency
- Clinical Laboratory Services and Equity
- Which of the following best defines "effective clinical laboratory services?"
- How might a laboratory ensure equity in laboratory testing services?
- Recognizing Problems (Errors) that Could Occur in Each Phase of the Total Testing Process
- Medical Errors
- How might the following factors contribute to medical errors? Consider your answer and then click on the defined problem to reveal the potentially har...
- Total Testing Process
- Safe Preanalytical Component of Total Testing Process
- Safe Analytical Component of Total Testing Process
- Safe Post-analytical Component of Total Testing Process
- Patient-Centered Preanalytical Component of Total Testing Process
- Patient-Centered Analytical Component of Total Testing Process
- Patient-Centered Post-analytical Component of Total Testing Process
- Identify the phase of the total testing process in which each error occurs.
- Misinterpretation of an alphabetic flag in the result field - using a lowercase letter L (l) to indicate "low result", where the result could be inter...
- Outcomes of Patient Safety Errors with Respect to Clinical Laboratory Services
- Outcomes of Laboratory Services
- The Laboratory Quality Management System and Non-Conforming Events (NCEs)
- Reportable Errors
- Reporting of Errors
- NCEs of External Origin
- NCEs of Internal Origin
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA), continued
- Management of Non-Conforming Events (NCEs)
- RCA Example: Cause-and-Effect Diagram
- Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
- Five Whys
- A patient event occurs that results in a "near miss" (an event that was averted but may have resulted in death or serious injury). The error was caugh...
- Nonconforming events (NCEs) may be of external or internal origin. From the answer choices, choose the NCE of internal origin:
- Sources of Data to Identify Errors and Patient Outcomes
- Monitoring Laboratory Processes to Prevent Medical Errors
- Data Sources to Identify Errors
- All of these sources may be useful for identifying patient safety problems, except:
- Patient Safety Goals
- The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals 2023 for Clinical Laboratories
- National Patient Safety Goal: Identify Patients Correctly
- Which of the following is not an acceptable patient identifier to use prior to performing venipuncture procedures?
- National Patient Safety Goal: Improve Staff Communication
- National Patient Safety Goal: Prevent Infection Through Hand Hygiene
- What is generally considered the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infection?
- References
Additional Information
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Intended Audience: Medical laboratory professionals
Author: Garland E. Pendergraph, PhD, JD, MLS(ASCP)SM, HCLD/CC(ABB) received his MSPH from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, his PhD in medical parasitology/entomology and mycology from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and his law degree with a concentration in health care law from Concord Law School, Purdue University. He also did a Fellowship in Tropical Medicine at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He is the author of a textbook on phlebotomy, a number of scientific articles, plus internet training programs. He is the director of five laboratories.
Reviewer: Dr. Julie Ann West is certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) as a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) and as a Specialist in Microbiology (SM). In addition, Dr. West has earned a PhD in Public Health - Epidemiology Specialization (emphasis on infectious diseases) - and is Certified in Public Health (CPH) by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. Dr. West is experienced as a Technical Specialist, Safety Officer, Educator, and Lead in the Veterans Administration Healthcare System, and has prior experience as an Administrative Laboratory Director.
