Study of determination of laboratory turnaround time in tertiary care hospital in India

Authors

  • Abhinav Dileep Wankar Department of Hospital Administration, Yashoda Hospital, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Keywords:

Turnaround time (TAT), Transport delay, Quality of care, Laboratory services

Abstract

Turnaround time (TAT) is commonly defined as the time from when a test is ordered until the result is reported. TAT is often considered the most significant measure of a laboratory’s service and is used by many clinicians to judge its quality. Timely reporting of laboratory test results is now considered an important aspect of the services provided by the clinical laboratory. It has also been shown that outcomes in certain situations such as operation theaters and in emergency departments have been affected by timely reporting of lab tests results. Rapid laboratory turnaround times are important both from a medical and commercial point of view. The study was conducted from 1 April 2013 to 31 May 2013. Out of total 232 samples, 183 samples (78.88%) were taken for analysis. 100 (54.65%) samples were within TAT time and 83 (45.35 %) samples were delayed. Out of total 83 samples which were delayed, 48 (57.83%) samples had TAT between 60 minutes to 90 minutes, 22 (26.51%) samples had TAT between 90 minutes to 120 minutes, 9 (10.84%) samples had TAT between 120 minutes to 180 minutes, and 4 (4.82%) samples had TAT over 180 minutes. Average time between sample collection and lab reach was observed to be 15 min. 38 sec. Transport delay was observed. Instrumentation failure was observed in biochemistry - 2 times and thyroid - 1 time. Hence this study aims to evaluate the delay and reason of delay of turnaround time (TAT) of stat tests in section of clinical chemistry of the clinical laboratory.

 

References

Hawkins RC. Laboratory turnaround time. Clin Biochem Rev. 2007;28:179-94.

Kilgore ML, Steindel SJ, Smith JA. Evaluating stat testing options in an academic health center: therapeutic turnaround time and staff satisfaction. Clin Chem. 1998;44:1597-603.

Hawkins RC. Laboratory turnaround time. Clin Biochem Rev. 2007;28(4):179-94.

Steindel SJ. Timeliness of clinical laboratory tests: a discussion based on five college of American pathologist Q-probe studies. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1995;119:952-61.

Steindel SJ, Novis DA. Using outlier events to monitor test turnaround time. A college of American pathologist Q-probe study in 496 laboratories. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1999;123:607-14.

Barnett RN, Mclver DD, Gorton WL. The medical usefulness of Stat tests. Am J Clin Pathol. 1978;69:520-4.

Valnestein P. Laboratory turnaround time. Am J Clin Pathol. 1996;105:676-88.

Steindel SJ, Jones BA. Routine outpatient laboratory test turnaround times and practice patterns: a college of American pathologist Q-probes study. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2002;126:11-8.

Steindel SJ, Jones BA, Howanitz PJ. Timeliness of automated routine laboratory tests: a college of American pathologist Q-probes study of 653 institutions. Clin Chem Acta. 1996;251:25-40.

Howanitz PJ, Tetrault GA, Steindel SJ. Clinical laboratory quality control: a costly process now out of control. Clin Chim Acta. 1997 Apr;260:163-74.

Downloads

Published

2017-01-26

How to Cite

Wankar, A. D. (2017). Study of determination of laboratory turnaround time in tertiary care hospital in India. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 2(4), 1396–1401. Retrieved from https://www.msjonline.org/index.php/ijrms/article/view/2430

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles