Assessment of quality indicators in the pre-analytical phase of the clinical analysis service of Hospital Naval Marcílio Dias.

Abstract

The section of clinical analysis has gone through big changes in the economic, epidemiological and technological fields. There is a need to incorporate laboratory management tools in order to reduce the costs and improve the quality of clinical laboratory services. The pre-analytical phase includes all processes occurring before the sample is processed and it is responsible for a high frequency of laboratory errors. It is necessary to understand its causes. The difficulties in controlling pre-analytical variables and performing improvements in the process are possible factors that contribute to a high incidence of errors in this phase. Although this area is beyond the clinical laboratory jurisdiction, perse, the laboratory’s credibility is affected by errors in this phase. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of pre-analytical errors occurred in the clinical analysis service of the Hospital Naval Marcílio Dias, from August to October, 2012. A total of 329,582 tests were carried out during the period of this study, 790 of these tests showed some type of error, resulting in an error rate of 0.24%. The pre-analytical errors most observed were hemolysis (27.54%), followed by material not received (25.43%) and insufficient sample (18.49%). These data are in accordance with those cited in the international scientific literature and are similar to those reported by the American College of Pathologists.