Based on the near-record attendance of our recent “Calibration Verification” webinar, this is a compelling topic for clinical laboratory professionals. We appreciate the questions you posed to our speaker and hope you are able to apply this new knowledge to your laboratory processes. Should you have additional questions, please send them our way ...

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 ...

In 2004, Sinai Hospital in Baltimore had 499 unlabeled specimens reach the lab. A multidisciplinary team reduced these errors 50%. Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota reduced labeling errors 75% with a zero tolerance (“Any Is Too Many” is their motto -- love it!!) policy with a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) team approach. A ...

Today the FDA told LabCorp, Burlington, NC, that it is violating the law by marketing its OvaSure test without regulatory approval. The FDA said in a letter that if LabCorp did not stop selling the ovarian cancer test, it could face seizure, injunction or monetary fines. Click here for more information. The OvaSure test had previously been under ...

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 ...

In response to a disastrous mix-up wherein 400 breast cancer patients in Newfoundland were given inaccurate test results between 1997-2005, the Canadian Association of Pathologists has announced new guidelines for the country's laboratory services. CTV.ca reports the new plan calls for: mandatory certification for every prognostic and ...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported some disturbing news about the CDC's infectious disease lab in Atlanta. Researches studying Q fever, a disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, were working in a room with a containment door sealed with duct tape. The taping occurred a year ago, when a malfunction with the ventilation system pulled ...

The Joint Commission announced on June 17 the 2009 National Patient Safety Goals and related requirements for its accreditation programs and Disease-Specific Care Certification Program Of the Joint Commission's 16 total goals-three of which have been retired since the requirements were incorporated into the standards-the following four apply to ...