Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Reporting with Autoverification System in Uttaradit Hospital
Keywords:
Efficiency, Effectiveness, Manual Verification: MV, Auto Verification: AV, Routine to Research: R2RAbstract
ABSTRACT
Background: Laboratory result reporting is a critical function for patient diagnosis and clinical management. However, relying on medical technologists to manually verify each result can cause delays and negatively impact both the efficiency (processing time and staff workload) and effectiveness (accuracy and patient safety) of result reporting. Implementation of an autoverification system is a promising approach to improve laboratory result reporting.
Objectives: 1) To compare the efficiency of result verification and reporting in clinical chemistry laboratory between manual verification (MV) and autoverification (AV) systems in terms of turnaround time and staff workload, 2) To assess the effectiveness of both systems regarding accuracy and error detection capability.
Methods: A before-and-after study was conducted in the Division of Medical Technology and Clinical Pathology at Uttaradit Hospital over 12 months (6 months before and 6 months after AV system implementation). Twenty-two tests from clinical chemistry and immunology were included, with a total of 152,347 test results collected retrospectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics
(mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage) and Levene’s Test for Equality of Variances with SPSS software.
Results: The AV system successfully reported 123,546 results (81.10%), while MV reported 28,801 results (18.90%). The AV system significantly reduced verification time (p < 0.05), saving approximately 1,245.02 hours per month (~50% reduction) and decreased staff workload by 70-85%. Additionally, AV improved error detection from specimen collection and preparation, and achieved 100% critical value detection with zero missed results.
Conclusion: The autoverification system demonstrated high efficiency and effectiveness by accelerating result reporting, reducing errors, enhancing patient safety, and decreasing staff workload. This model can be implemented in other laboratory departments and expanded to other healthcare network units.
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