Specimen collection is one of the few areas of laboratory medicine that involves direct outpatient contact. As a result, patient satisfaction with this service is a vital indicator of quality laboratory performance. The CAP’s Laboratory Accreditation Program requires measurement of patient satisfaction with laboratory services (Checklist statement GEN.20335). Use this monitor to help meet this requirement.
Objective
Assess patient satisfaction with outpatient phlebotomy services by measuring patients’ assessments of laboratory service hours, waiting time, comfort level, professionalism and courtesy, and privacy.
Data Collection
On a monthly basis, participants will provide copies of a standardized questionnaire in English and Spanish to a minimum of 25 outpatients (maximum of 99 outpatients) using predetermined data collection criteria. This monitor includes any outpatient undergoing venipuncture. This monitor excludes patients seen in the emergency department, ambulatory surgery area, urgent care facility, chest pain center, 23-hour short-stay facility, employee health department, outpatient health screening fair/promotion, dialysis center, nursing home, or extended care facility.
Performance Indicators
- Satisfaction scores and satisfaction rates (% of patients rating 4 or 5) for the following categories:
- Overall experience
- Waiting time
- Patient comfort
- Professionalism and courtesy
- Patient privacy
- Laboratory hours of operation
Shipping Schedule
- Shipment A: December 9, 2019
- Shipment B: March 2, 2020
- Shipment C: June 1, 2020
- Shipment D: August 31, 2020
Additional Information
Participants in the Q-TRACKS program receive:
- Users Guide
- Templates and instructions for data collection
- Quarterly reports that include fingerprint clusters, customer-defined groups, and all institution comparisons
- Peer directory
Q-TRACKS activities meet the American Board of Pathology MOC Part IV Practice Performance Assessment requirements.
For Comprehensive Collection of Tools, see Quality Management Tools.
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Preanalytic |
Analytic |
Postanalytic |
Anatomic Pathology |
Clinical Pathology |
Turnaround Time |
Patient Safety |
Microbiology |
Transfusion Medicine |
Chemistry/ Hematology |
Customer Satisfaction |
Q-PROBES |
Technical Competency Assessment of Peripheral Blood Smears (QP201) |
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✓ |
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|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
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Red Blood Cell Utilization: Single and Double Unit Transfusions (QP202) |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
Inpatient Test Utilization and Volume Benchmarking (QP203) |
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✓ |
|
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✓ |
|
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
✓ |
Turnaround Time for Image with Guided Breast Needle Biopsy Specimens (QP204) |
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
Q-TRACKS |
Patient Identification Accuracy (QT1) |
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
Blood Culture Contamination (QT2) |
✓ |
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
Laboratory Specimen Acceptability (QT3) |
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
|
|
|
|
✓ |
✓ |
In-Date Blood Product Wastage (QT4) |
|
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✓ |
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✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
|
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Gynecologic Cytology Outcomes:
Biopsy Correlation Performance (QT5) |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
Satisfaction with Outpatient Specimen Collection (QT7) |
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
|
|
✓ |
Stat Test Turnaround Time Outliers (QT8) |
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✓ |
|
|
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
✓ |
Critical Values Reporting (QT10) |
|
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
|
Troponin Turnaround Times (QT15) |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
|
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
|
|
✓ |
✓ |
Corrected Results (QT16) |
|
|
✓ |
|
✓ |
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✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
Outpatient Order Entry Errors (QT17) |
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|
|
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✓ |
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✓ |
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✓ |
✓ |
*The CAP requires accredited laboratories to have a quality management plan that covers all areas of the laboratory and includes benchmarking key measures of laboratory performance (GEN.13806, GEN.20316, COM.04000). The Joint Commission requires accredited hospitals to regularly collect and analyze performance data (PI.01.01.01, PI.02.01.01). CLIA requires laboratories to monitor, assess, and correct problems identified in preanalytic, analytic, and postanalytic systems (§493.1249, §493.1289, §493.1299).