Pati Hara P, Singh Gurmeet
Department of Hematology, AIIMS, New Delhi, 110029 India.
Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus. 2014 Jun;30(2):81-4. doi: 10.1007/s12288-012-0214-3. Epub 2012 Nov 8.
Lab investigations are essential in patient management and qualities of the tests reports are emphasized. But there is another aspect of quality which is often overlooked and that is timeliness which is expressed as turnaround time (TAT). Mostly the laboratory services are directed at providing a rapid, reliable report at a reasonable cost. However, most laboratories put undue stress on only reliability, where as the clinician gives more stress on how soon (TAT) a report would be available to them. There is no clear definition of TAT, as to which period should be included in determining TAT for a specific test. For laboratory personnel, it would be from the time of receipt of sample in laboratory till report is generated. However, for a clinician, it would appropriate from the time of his/her requisition of a test till the report reaches him/her. The TAT would not be similar for routine tests versus in STAT/urgent tests. TAT would be different for ICU/emergency services. The causes of poor satisfaction level from lab users includes stat and routine test TAT and stat test TAT is considered by majority as the most important indicator of laboratories functioning. Hospital computerization with record of time from test request, sample collection, report generation and receipt of report by clinician would help in generating TAT. Analyzing outliers in TAT in a lab gives insight of causes delay in TAT and the areas need improvement. Laboratories in developing countries are yet to use TAT and analyze them for laboratory improvement.
实验室检查在患者管理中至关重要，并且强调检验报告的质量。但质量还有另一个常被忽视的方面，即及时性，它以周转时间（TAT）来表示。大多数实验室服务旨在以合理成本提供快速、可靠的报告。然而，大多数实验室过度强调可靠性，而临床医生更关注报告能多快（TAT）提供给他们。对于TAT没有明确的定义，即在确定特定检测的TAT时应包括哪些时间段。对实验室人员来说，是从样本在实验室接收之时到报告生成之时。然而，对临床医生来说，从其申请检测之时到报告送达他/她手中才合适。常规检测与急诊/紧急检测的TAT不同。重症监护病房/急诊服务的TAT也会不同。实验室用户满意度低的原因包括常规检测和急诊检测的TAT，大多数人认为急诊检测TAT是实验室运作的最重要指标。医院计算机化，记录从检测申请、样本采集、报告生成到临床医生接收报告的时间，将有助于生成TAT。分析实验室TAT中的异常值可深入了解TAT延迟的原因以及需要改进的方面。发展中国家的实验室尚未使用TAT并对其进行分析以改进实验室。
