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. 2020 Jul;34(7):e23290.
doi: 10.1002/jcla.23290. Epub 2020 Mar 9.

Real-time display of laboratory testing status improves satisfaction levels in an emergency department: A pilot study

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Real-time display of laboratory testing status improves satisfaction levels in an emergency department: A pilot study

Jeonghyun Chang et al. J Clin Lab Anal. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Clinicians need to know timelines of requested laboratory tests to provide effective patient management. We developed a real-time laboratory progress checking system and measured its effectiveness using appropriate indicators in an emergency room setting.

Methods: In our original in-house health information system display, blank spaces, which were generated for test results when tests were ordered, remained empty until the final results reported. We upgraded the laboratory reporting system to show real-time testing information. The stages included requests for test, label printing, sampling, laboratory receipts, performance of tests, verification of results, and interpretation of results and final report by laboratory physician. To assess the usefulness of the function, we measured the emergency department healthcare workers' satisfaction and compared the number of phone calls about test status before and after implementation.

Results: After the system upgrade, the healthcare workers' understanding of the testing process increased significantly as follows. More clinicians could estimate the time of final test results through the real-time testing status information (61.9% and 85.7%, P = .002), and respondents reported that the upgraded system was more convenient than the original system (41.3% and 22.2%, respectively, P = .022). The number of phone calls about the test status decreased after implementation of the upgrade; however, the difference was not statistically significant (before, 0.13% [63 calls/48 637 tests] and after, 0.09% [42/46 666]; P = .066).

Conclusions: The real-time display of laboratory testing status increased understanding of testing process among healthcare workers in emergency room, which ultimately may increase the usefulness and efficiency of the laboratory service use.

Keywords: computerized physician order entry (CPOE); laboratory management; laboratory test status; quality improvement; questionnaire.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the workflow process for laboratory tests and the corresponding test status displayed in the laboratory result viewer. CPOE, computerized physician order entry; LIS, laboratory information system
Figure 2
Figure 2
Laboratory information display before (A) and after (B) the upgrade showing the real‐time status of a test before the results are reported. The testing stages and results are displayed according to the receipt date

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