Accuracy of Send-out Test Ordering: A College of American Pathologists Q-Probes Study of Ordering Accuracy in 97 Clinical Laboratories (Cap Laboratory Improvement Programs‪)‬

Errors entering laboratory test orders into computer systems waste health care resources and can delay patient evaluation and management. Previous Q-Probes studies conducted by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) have described error rates for both inpatient and outpatient computer order entry. In a study of inpatients served by 577 clinical laboratories, study participants at the median facility could not identify written requests for 0.7% of tests that had been ordered in the laboratory computer system, and 1.9% of written orders were never entered into the computer. (1) In the outpatient environment, order entry accuracy rates were similar; in a study of outpatient orders received by 660 laboratories, participants at the median facility could not identify written requests for 1.0% of tests ordered in the laboratory computer system, while 1.0% of written orders were never entered into the computer. (2)