Highly revered medical facilities, such as the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, have acknowledged in independent studies that too many errors occur in medical testing. Even with quality assurance systems in place, something as simple as mislabeling, sample contamination or a misplaced slide can lead to switched results among a group of patients. There are relatively new, high-tech error reduction systems available today such as Inking and RFID (read more about these below) that have proven to reduce the incidence of switching errors. But even with these enhanced systems in place, errors do still occur, some of which may have devastating consequences.
It should be noted that not all switching errors result in adverse effects. Take, for example, a case in which a negative biopsy result is switched with another negative biopsy. While a switching error technically has occurred, the mistake would likely never be discovered and neither patient would experience an adverse effect as a result of the switch. The same would be true if a positive biopsy result is switched with another positive biopsy result, although it is possible the treatment plans would differ based on applying the wrong positive results to each patient. In this case, there could be an adverse effect on one or both patients. But the errors are most costly when a switch occurs between a positive biopsy result and a negative one or vice versa. These types of switching errors can be catastrophic, resulting in unnecessary and grueling treatment for a cancer-free patient and delayed or no treatment for a patient with cancer. These adverse medical outcomes have both medical and legal consequences for every person and / or entity involved in the biopsy process.
With the introduction of the know error® specimen security system, the medical community can now benefit from a system that incorporates forensic DNA science to reduce switching errors and resulting adverse patient outcomes. Utilizing DNA "fingerprinting," the know error® system is able to catch errors that would be otherwise undetected by existing quality assurance systems, including those which employ sophisticated technology (e.g., Inking, RFID). The know error® system method identifies biopsy identity switches before a patient suffers an adverse outcome (i.e., under treatment/overtreatment) and ensures the biopsy tissue specimen belongs to the patient by developing a DNA profile from a sample taken from the patient via a simple cheek swab. This sample is then matched to the DNA profile from the patient's biopsy sample to confirm a match.
The know error® specimen security system assures the patient and treating physician that the biopsy is that of the patient before treatment begins. It also allows the doctor to proceed with confidence regarding the treatment recommendation. By implementing the know error® system, doctors and patients benefit from improved accuracy and reduced risk.
For more information about the know error® specimen security system with unique patient code and DNA identity confirmation (patent pending), please visit www.knowerror.com.
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