PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kwok, J
AU  - Jones, B
TI  - Unnecessary repeat requesting of tests: an audit in a government hospital immunology laboratory
AID  - 10.1136/jcp.2004.021691
DP  - 2005 May 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 457--462
VI  - 58
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/58/5/457.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/58/5/457.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol2005 May 01; 58
AB  - Unnecessary repeat requesting of tests can make up a large proportion of a laboratory’s workload. This audit set out to establish the size of this problem and to identify the circumstances under which these repeat requests were made in a government tertiary hospital immunology laboratory. The numbers of tests for immunoglobulin measurement, common autoantibodies, and tumour markers that were repeated over a 12 month period were analysed by interrogating the Delphic laboratory computer system using a management information system for raw data enquiry protocol. Repeat requests within 12 weeks of a previous request made up 16.78% of the total workload. The total cost of the tests was estimated at US$ 132 151. The waste of technician time and reagents as a result of unnecessary repeat testing is excessive. Many of these tests might be eliminated with the use of interventions such as computerised reminders.