IMPACT OF POSITIVE PATIENT IDENTIFICATION ON MEDICAL LABORATORY PRE-ANALYTICAL QUALITY INDICATORS

Abstract

Hospital identification errors can result in inappropriate treatment or diagnosis. In the laboratory, identification errors occur mainly during the pre-analytical phase and can carry through to the analytical and post-analytical phases. Positive patient identification (PPID) technology allows a phlebotomist to identify a patient using a barcode scanner, decreasing the risk of making an identification error. Lack of data on PPID’s efficacy and inadequate research on its return on investment have led to hesitancy to implement this technology. A retrospective one-group pretest–posttest design was utilized to determine the impact of PPID on laboratory quality indicators such as patient identification error rates and turn-around times at ABC Hospital in British Columbia. Patient identification error rates decreased to 0% after the implementation of PPID; however, sample collection turn-around times increased by 4 to 10 min.