Labs Even state-of-the-art pathology laboratories are subject to human error. With the know error® specimen security system, your lab can achieve a higher level of patient safety.
Most switching errors are caught by the quality assurance systems in place at pathology labs prior to an adverse patient outcome. However, those which are not detected prior to adverse patient outcomes may be catastrophic in nature; for example, the errant removal of a prostate, breast, or uterus due to a cancer diagnosis being incorrectly attributed to a cancer-free patient (and the corresponding failure to identify and treat the patient who actually has cancer). Adverse patient outcomes also have both medical and legal consequences for every person and/or entity involved in the biopsy process. The know error® system brings a new level of process control to the practice of laboratory medicine, vastly reducing switching errors and virtually eliminating the possibility that one will result in an adverse patient outcome. The know error® specimen security system provides two crucial lines of defense against specimen switching errors -- 1)The use of a unique patient bar code system reduces laboratory errors that occur as a result of manual specimen handling and 2) DNA identity confirmation of the patient’s biopsy virtually eliminates the possibility of a specimen switching error that results in an adverse patient outcome. If you are interested in learning more about the know error® specimen security system, please click here to contact us.
1 Valenstein PN, Raab SS, Walsh MK. Identification errors involving clinical laboratories: a College of American Pathologists Q-Probes study of patient and specimen identification errors at 120 institutions. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2006
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