When asked to think about how communication is important in the area you work, patient safety may be one of the first things that comes to mind.
The World Health Organization defines patient safety as: "...the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care and reduction of risk of unnecessary harm associated with health care to an acceptable minimum."
Communication is a foundation of patient safety. Every time a critical result is communicated to a provider, every time there is a shift handoff, and every time a phlebotomist verifies patient information, there is a certain degree of inherent unsafety.
It is for this reason that accrediting and regulatory agencies have standards for the communication of patient information, and laboratories have specimen collection and specimen processing protocols in place for when communication is vital.
As an example, the Joint Commission has the National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) "Improve the Effectiveness of Communication Among Caregivers" as a standard for their Laboratory Accreditation Program.
