TY - JOUR T1 - The Rationale for a Methodical Approach to Interpreting the Complete Blood Count and Its Development JF - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science JO - Clin Lab Sci SP - 171 LP - 172 DO - 10.29074/ascls.30.3.171 VL - 30 IS - 3 AU - Kathy Doig Y1 - 2017/07/01 UR - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/30/3/171.abstract N2 - Describe the value in using a methodical approach to interpretation of complete blood counts (CBC).Explain how a methodical approach to CBC interpretation for laboratorians differs from that used by physicians and other care providers.Using a consistent and methodical approach to interpreting results of a complete blood count can help ensure that reported results are accurate and no diagnostically significant results are overlooked. The approach presented in the Focus articles to follow was developed through observation of professionals and refined after use with hundreds of students. The approach is different than diagnostic algorithms used by care providers in that the steps aid in detection of spurious results that must be corrected before results can be reported by the laboratory.ABBREVIATIONS: CBC - complete blood count ER -