Check-list in laboratory medicine: An important tool to improve patient safety. The blood collection

This work aims to describe the results concerning the implementation of a check-list (CL) on blood collection procedures as a tool to prevent errors in laboratory medicine. Literature and operating procedures carried out in three outpatients phlebotomy sites (SMa, SMb, PN) were analysed to identify check-points (CPs). CL draft was evaluated by a multidisciplinary team and tested for one month (September 2014) by 25 physicians and 15 nurses. The filled in CLs were analysed together with the involved staff and a final version was released. CL effectiveness was evaluated immediately after experimentation and one year later. 5661 CL were filled in, out of 9469 venipunctures (59.8%). The percentages of CPs filled in within SMa, SMb and PN were respectively: 100% patient identification and label-sample-identification matching; 80.2, 73.1 and 51.9% vein selection; 96.7, 95.8 and 97.9% needle selection; 82.5, 85.8 and 89.9% tourniquet application time; 98.9, 97.9 and 98.7% tubes filling; 98.4, 97.4 and 98.7% tubes mixing; 27.6, 23.5 and 15% temperature transport; 16.4, 20.8 and 1.3% time transport. The percentages of unsuitable samples in SM and PN were respectively: 0.040 and 0.013% (September 2014); 0.041 and 0.012% (October 2014); 0.024 and 0.16% (September-October 2015). The insufficient number of available CLs, difficulties over communication concerning purpose and methodology, and patients crowding affected the results in SM; anyway the CL was very helpful for trainees. An effective CL should: include only critical CPs, be shared with the staff, take into account organizational peculiarities. CL is a powerful tool to ensure patient safety only when it becomes an integral part of quality management system.