I just saw the blockbuster movie Contagion and must say I was pretty impressed. When I watch a medical-themed movie, I always look at it with a critical eye. How factual is it? Is it authentic in terms of scenarios, equipment, procedures and vocabulary?I look for how realistically roles are portrayed. For example I tend to roll my eyes and become ...

At COLA, we’re all part of the same work community. Together we help promote patient safety by promoting lab excellence. Considering that lab testing impacts more than 70 percent of diagnostic decisions, the COLA community’s efforts impact a lot of people. Individually, however, we are all part of two other communities: The lab community in ...

A Pennsylvania Department of Health report revealed that a patient died at a hospital after discrepant blood sugar results allegedly went unrecognized and, worse yet, unreported to doctors. This post-transplant patient allegedly died as a result of low blood sugar for an extended period of time. The sad part is we wonder whether this tragic death ...

The Joint Commission has issues a statement that rude, hostile and obnoxious behavior in the workplace is not simply unpleasant and inappropriate, but can be considered a patient safety or quality of care issue as well. Anyone who has been in healthcare for a while is aware of a physician, nurse or laboratorian who is known for flying off the ...