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Pre-analytical error for three point of care venous blood testing platforms in acute ambulatory settings: A mixed methods service evaluation
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 2, p e0228687 (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2020.
-
Abstract
- © 2020 Fanshawe et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Point of care blood testing to aid diagnosis is becoming increasingly common in acute ambulatory settings and enables timely investigation of a range of diagnostic markers. However, this testing allows scope for errors in the pre-analytical phase, which depends on the operator handling and transferring specimens correctly. The extent and nature of these pre-analytical errors in clinical settings has not been widely reported. Methods We carried out a convergent parallel mixed-methods service evaluation to investigate pre-analytical errors leading to a machine error reports in a large acute hospital trust in the UK. The quantitative component comprised a retrospective analysis of all recorded error codes from Abbott Point of Care i-STAT 1, i-STAT Alinity and Abbott Rapid Diagnostics Afinion devices to summarise the error frequencies and reasons for error, focusing on those attributable to the operator. The qualitative component included a prospective ethnographic study and a secondary analysis of an existing ethnographic dataset, based in hospital-based ambulatory care and community ambulatory care respectively. Results The i-STAT had the highest usage (113,266 tests, January 2016-December 2018). As a percentage of all tests attempted, its device-recorded overall error rate was 6.8% (95% confidence interval 6.6% to 6.9%), and in the period when reliable data could be obtained, the operator-attributable error rate was 2.3% (2.2% to 2.4%). Staff identified that the most difficult step was the filling of cartridges, but that this could be improved through practice, with a perception that cartridge wastage through errors was rare. Conclusions In the observed settings, the rate of errors attributable to operators of the primary point of care device was less than 1 in 40. In some cases, errors may lead to a small increase in resource use or time required so adequate staff training is necessary to prevent adverse impact on patient care.
- Subjects :
- 030213 general clinical medicine
Service (systems architecture)
Physiology
Health Care Providers
Ethnography
Word error rate
Nurses
Social Sciences
Walking
01 natural sciences
Biochemistry
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Cultural Anthropology
0302 clinical medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine
Medical Personnel
Multidisciplinary
Medical Errors
Qualitative Studies
Troponin
Hospitals
Body Fluids
Professions
Blood
Research Design
Point-of-Care Testing
Ambulatory
Engineering and Technology
Medical emergency
Anatomy
Research Article
Biotechnology
Point-of-care testing
Science
MEDLINE
Bioengineering
Research and Analysis Methods
Veins
03 medical and health sciences
Ambulatory care
Humans
Point of care
business.industry
Biological Locomotion
010401 analytical chemistry
Biology and Life Sciences
Proteins
medicine.disease
Confidence interval
0104 chemical sciences
Health Care
Cytoskeletal Proteins
Health Care Facilities
Anthropology
People and Places
Population Groupings
Medical Devices and Equipment
business
Blood Chemical Analysis
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....04035c4aadfb6c84aae40805e0e0a554