Title
Evaluation of pre-analytical errors using six sigma metrics towards quality of laboratory performance in an Indian tertiary care hospital
Authors
Shruti Seth1, 2,*, Narendra Kumar Sah3 & Neha Rajwal2
Affiliation
1Department of Biochemistry, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence and Associated Hospital, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Kakryal, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir 182320, India; 2Laboratory Medicine, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana, Superspeciality Hospital, Kakryal, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, 182320, India; 3Department of Biochemistry, Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College and Hospital, Lado, Kumarhatti - Solan 173229 India; *Corresponding author
Shruti Seth - E - mail: drshrutiseth@yahoo.com
Narendra Kumar Sah - E - mail: sumanshah2007@gmail.com
Neha Rajwal - E - mail: neharajwal39@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received October 1, 2024; Revised October 31, 2024; Accepted October 31, 2024, Published October 31, 2024
Abstract
Six Sigma methodologies is one of the standard management system adopted to check the quality and improve laboratory performance continuously by assessing the laboratory process using six sigma metrics. A one-year prospective study from January 2019 to December 2019 was conducted in the laboratory medicine department of a tertiary care hospital. A total of 162974 samples were received from both inpatient and outpatient departments, and total laboratory errors were found to be 1144, with the maximum errors identified in the pre-analytical phase coming out to be 978 (0.6%). The types of errors in the pre-analytical phase after being identified and categorized were hemolyzed samples, clotted samples, phlebotomy errors, etc. The most typical error identified was clotted sample error (0.29%) followed by haemolysed sample error (0.20%). After calculating the error rate or defects per million error samples on a Sigma calculator, the value obtained was between 4 and 5, an average class quality. Our study concludes that continuous and repeated recognition of errors and evaluating them using Six Sigma metrics can help achieve overall laboratory procedure quality and better clinical diagnosis.
Keywords
Pre-analytical errors, six sigma metrics, laboratory quality, total laboratory testing, laboratory errors & quality indicators
Citation
Seth et al. Bioinformation 20(10): 1418-1423 (2024)
Edited by
Neelam Goyal & Shruti Dabi
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
