ERROR MANAGEMENT IN THE CYTOPATHOLOGY LABORATORY: LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES

Course overview

The topic of error reduction and patient safety in healthcare has recently come to the forefront of medical practice, particularly since the publication of the Institute of Medicine's reports on medical error (1999) and the general quality of healthcare (2001). Though it is relatively new to the Cytopathology laboratory, many areas of medicine are applying process improvement tools and methods that have been successfully employed in manufacturing for years to reduce error, improve processes and reduce waste. This teleconferece will discuss various theories on dealing with errors and introduce the concept of error management as a component of a quality management system with emphasis on practical process improvement tools that can be used to identify and analyze root cause of laboratory errors. Case studies of errors that occur in the Cytopathology laboratory will be utilized to demonstrate how to apply process improvement tools.