About Know ErrorIntroduced by Diagnostic ID, LLC in 2009, the know error® specimen security system represents the new standard of patient safety in the biopsy evaluation process. It is the only system to offer a comprehensive defense against adverse patient outcomes due to biopsy switching errors, and when added as the final step to current biopsy protocol, further enhances patient safety and diagnostic accuracy. In a study published in the Journal Of Urology (October 2007), Drs. John Pfeifer, Stephen Raab, and Eric Suba suggested that the medical community may be ready for a “DNA Timeout” utilizing forensic DNA, and concluded: “Patient identification errors among prostate needle biopsies may be difficult to entirely prevent through the optimization of work flow processes. A DNA time-out, whereby DNA polymorphic microsatellite analysis is used to confirm patient identification before radiation therapy or radical surgery, may eliminate patient identification errors among needle biopsies.”1 As identified by Drs. Pfeifer, Raab, and Suba, DNA “fingerprinting” has been advocated to catch those errors which are undetected by existing quality systems, even those systems which adopt sophisticated error reduction systems. The know error® specimen security system provides a solution to finding biopsy identity switches, such as those discussed in the study, by incorporating both an error reduction system and DNA fingerprinting technology. The know error® system employs patient-specific bar coding for the purpose of reducing errors and forensic DNA fingerprinting for the purpose of preventing errors. The know error® system uncovers patient misidentification errors by matching tissue from a positive biopsy result to a reference sample taken from the patient via a simple cheek swab to confirm that the tissue belongs to the patient. By performing DNA matching prior to treatment, the know error® specimen security system assures that biopsy switching errors will be detected prior to any adverse patient outcomes. When adopted by pathology labs and their referring physicians, the know error® system can reduce switching errors and assure that no adverse patient outcomes will occur from otherwise undetected misidentifications. If you are interested in learning more about the know error® specimen security system, please click here to contact us.
1 Eric J. Suba,* John D. Pfeifer and Stephen S. Raab Patient Identification Error Among Prostate Needle Core Biopsy Specimens--Are We Ready for a DNA Time-Out? Journal of Urology Vol. 178, 1245-1248, October 2007
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