Variability of preanalytical errors between decentralized phlebotomy centers: A challenge for patient safety

Objective: The aim of the study is to show the most frequent preanalytical sample errors from distinct decentralized phlebotomy centers. Method: The study was conducted from May 2005 to March 2008. In this period 36,2054 requests and 2,880,742 tests were received from the 16 decentralized phlebotomy centers. When an unsuitable sample is received specific coded results are registered as test results to inform the physician that an error had occurred and a new specimen collection is recommended. We used the the request number, which is specific for each phlebotomy center to ascertain where the samples with errors had been drawn, The preanalytical errors were identified by looking for coded results and were collected automatically from the LIS using a software program based on OLAP's cube (Omnium Roche Diagnostic), obtaining number and type of preanalytical error for each sample. The errors are calculated as number per million samples requested. Analysis of data was carried out using Microsoft Excel 2003. Categorical variables were expressed as frequency and percentage. Results: The highest number of incidences occurred in urine samples (52%), followed by coagulation (21%), haematology (17%) and biochemistry (10%). With regard to the type of error, the largest proportion of errors was due to failures of process (62%). Conclusions: The high incidence of preanalytical errors and variability between centers suggests that there is a need to standardize the drawing practice. (C) 2009 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.