How to reduce preventable harms with sample to answer systems
Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer. A 2013 study estimated nearly 400,000 premature deaths occur each year due to preventable harm in hospitals, which is up fourfold since the seminal 1999 Institute of Medicine report that first catalyzed the discussion about patient injuries in healthcare. With medical errors on the rise, what is being done to reduce them?
Common medical errors include:
- Human errors (sample mishandling, mixing patient samples, erroneous reporting of results)
- Diagnostic errors
- Communication errors
- Incorrect medication
- Health care-associated infections
- Defective diagnostic equipment
Yet, accurately quantifying the true number of medical errors that occur is a nearly impossible task as only 10 to 20 percent of errors are ever reported. In addition to the errors documented in medical records, researchers must also extrapolate the metrics to include events that are missing evidence of harm, such as withheld treatment errors.
Opportunities to reduce harm to patients
Laboratory services are a critical component of clinical care as nearly 70% of decisions regarding admissions, discharges, and medications are based on laboratory test results. While analytical phase errors contribute to less than 13% of errors, molecular diagnostic laboratories have the opportunity with recently developed sample to answer systems to significantly reduce human errors associated with testing samples.
Sample to answer systems can improve patient care through increased accuracy and faster time to results. Automated workflows of commercially available sample to answer systems reduce:
- The need for intensive user training
- Technician time on task
- Likelihood of human error (through automated sample preparation and analysis)
- Costs
Some systems also allow for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets within a single assay, further increasing efficiency and reducing time to results by eliminating the need for separate tests.
For example, the automated sample to answer ARIES® Systems from Luminex reduce the number of touch points during sample processing by including all necessary reagents in a single self-contained assay cassette. The internal barcode scanner ensures each test result is independent of the position of the assay cassette inside the system, reducing the possibility of receiving incorrect results due to placement of the wrong cassette in a particular location in the instrument. Additionally, the ARIES® on-board software connects the test instrument directly to the Laboratory Information System (LIS)*which may reduce the possibility of erroneous result reporting.
Learn more
See the ARIES® Systems and assay menu here.
View our poster gallery on how ARIES® can help improve laboratory processes.
* Validation of the LIS compatibility must be performed by the end user.
For In Vitro Diagnostic Use. Products are regions specific and may not be approved in some countries/regions. Please contact Luminex at support@luminexcorp.com to obtain the appropriate product information for your country of residence.
Luminex and ARIES are trademarks of Luminex Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries.