Diagnostic Errors and Medical Laboratories: Why You Should Outsource Your RCM
On average, patients receive 5.7 laboratory requests in their first week in the hospital. That’s because clinical lab testing is an integral component of the diagnostic process, with up to 80% of medical decisions relying on patients’ lab data. However, over 44% of physicians admitted that diagnostic errors occur during laboratory testing, leading to improper patient care decisions.
Thankfully, there are various strategies you can implement to stay ahead, including how outsourcing can help. In this blog, let’s discuss the full extent of diagnostic errors within the laboratory walls.
What are diagnostic errors?
The National Academy of Medicine in the United States said that patients will experience a diagnostic error at least once in their lifetime. Diagnostic errors have been defined as:
- Errors in which diagnosis was unintentionally delayed (while sufficient information was available earlier)
- Wrong (another diagnosis made before the correct one)
- Missed (no diagnosis made) as judged from the eventual appreciation of more definitive information (e.g., autopsy studies)
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tackling diagnostic errors is a “global priority in patient safety.” Moreover, the WHO shared that a study revealed that approximately 5% of adults experience diagnostic errors in outpatient settings each year, and more than half have the potential for severe harm. Let’s take a closer look at diagnostic errors occurring in laboratory settings.
Understanding diagnostic errors and medical labs
Simply put, a laboratory diagnostic error is a result that does not meet expectations regarding accuracy, timeliness, interpretation, or reflection of the patient’s condition.
Here are the common causes of laboratory diagnostic errors:
- A mistake happening at the time of sample collection
- A mistake during measurement of the sample or when recording
- A mistake in communicating the patient’s result
These can be broken down into specific phases in the laboratory testing process, each with its own challenges.
- Preanalytical phase – involves the steps before the specimen reaches the lab, including sample handling and identification. Errors such as incorrect patient information, improper specimen collection, and labeling may arise.
- Analytical phase – begins when labs test the patient’s samples and interpret the results. Apart from instrumental errors, human errors can skew the accuracy of the test results, such as reagent mistakes, interference from unidentified antibodies, mistakes in manual pipetting, and clinician errors in preparation and processing.
- Post-analytical phase – during the final stage of the testing process, the test results are released to clinicians for review, and follow-ups may be ordered. Errors can occur from manual recording and storage, incorrect verbal information and calculations, unreported results, or sending the results to the wrong individual.
It’s crucial that we are aware of different laboratory diagnostic errors because they can be life-threatening. A study found that in the ambulatory setting, 37% of diagnostic errors that led to malpractice claims were caused by incorrect interpretation of lab results (van Moll, 2023). Evidence showed that laboratory errors can increase the risk of improper care (6.4% to 12%) and additional inappropriate investigations (19%).
Do no harm: How to help medical labs in addressing diagnostic errors
“Do no harm” is one of the guiding principles of any healthcare facility. However, medical labs struggle to uphold their duties of patient safety and care because of the errors mentioned earlier.
Thankfully, there are numerous approaches that you can implement that hold their promise of elevating labs’ diagnostic errors:
- Use automated transmission of reports to ensure timely reviews and accurate sending.
- Implement a bar code ID system to prevent specimen misidentification and mislabeling.
- Review laboratory manuals to check policies, processes, and procedures.
- Conduct clinician training and competency evaluation to stay up to date with crucial laboratory testing standards and guidelines.
- Automate instrument calibration and tracking to reduce manual work and to standardize results.
Even better, you can “do no harm” to your patients while maximizing your labs’ revenue by outsourcing all financial aspects of a patient’s care, from initial contact to final payment, ensuring timely and accurate reimbursement to a trusted expert in medical lab RCM like Synapse Lab Billing.
Why medical labs should outsource RCM
It’s time that we herald a new era in medical labs where your financial needs are met while ensuring that diagnostic errors are addressed. Through outsourcing repetitive and error-prone tasks such as coding, credentialing, and prior authorizations, you can focus on strengthening your lab processes to prevent diagnostic errors.
Ultimately, medical labs deserve to be reimbursed properly and on time for their services, stay compliant, and not worry about laboratory-associated errors.
Synapse translates every lab’s challenges into learning opportunities to improve their accuracy and efficiency, as evidenced by our long-standing client relationship with Dr. P.N., who said:
“Our office signed on with Synapse over three years ago and we couldn’t be happier with the results and great service we’ve received from them. Our revenues have increased sharply over that period and they have provided valuable assistance with credentialing, compliance and CMS quality activities. With the ever increasing burden of knowledge required to achieve the highest reimbursements, no practice can afford to be without the best practice management support and we definitely have found it in Synapse!”
Want to see our revenue cycle management for labs in action? Sign up to book a free demo with us!
Sources:
(2022). Nationalacademies.org.
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/diagnostic-error-in-health-care
Shaik, T., Mahmood, R., Kanagala, S. G., Kaur, H., Mendpara, V., Gupta, V., Aggarwal, P., Anamika, F., Garg, N., & Jain, R. (2024). Lab testing overload: a comprehensive analysis of overutilization in hospital-based settings. Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center), 37(2), 312–316.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2023.2288788
Tola EK, Dabi YT, Dano GT. Assessment of Types and Frequency of Errors in Diagnostic Laboratories Among Selected Hospitals in East Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine International. 2022;14:1–6.
https://doi.org/10.2147/PLMI.S351851
World Health Organization. (2023). Patient Safety. World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/patient-safety
van Moll, C., Egberts, T., Wagner, C., Zwaan, L., & Ten Berg, M. (2023). The Nature, Causes, and Clinical Impact of Errors in the Clinical Laboratory Testing Process Leading to Diagnostic Error: A Voluntary Incident Report Analysis. Journal of Patient Safety, 19(8), 573–579.
https://doi.org/10.1097/PTS.0000000000001166