Every person in America seeks medical care at some point, trusting and relying on highly
educated healthcare professionals and sophisticated technology to solve their medical …

Medical error is an extremely large problem in health systems around the world. Annual
fatality estimates in US alone from medical errors are greater than 200,000 (1). As a subset …

Introduction: Laboratory examinations constitute a major factor in achieving the correct
clinical diagnosis for patients. However, the ordering of unnecessary or inappropriate …

Diagnostic errors, defined as a wrong diagnosis, a missed diagnosis, or an unintentionally
delayed diagnosis, are increasingly being recognized as a quantifiable problem in …

A recent US Institute of Medicine report indicated that up to 98,000 deaths and more than 1
million injuries occur each year in the United States due to medical errors. These include …

The most common answer to the title question in laboratory medicine circles is,“laboratory
tests are the basis of 70% of medical decisions.” Although this is a nice soundbite, it is an …

Over the last 20 years laboratory medicine has played an increasingly dominant role in
clinical decisionmaking and patient management. Laboratory tests are essential to …

Background: Diagnostic errors occur in laboratory medicine resulting from an error or delay
in diagnosis, a failure to employ indicated tests, and the use of outmoded tests. Since …

Interactions between the laboratory and outpatient physician are critical to ensure the
appropriateness, accuracy, and utility of laboratory results. A recent Institute of Medicine …

Background: Diagnostic errors in clinical laboratory testing are extremely common and are
major roadblocks in providing timely patient care. The purpose of this project was to …