Letter from the Chief Medical Officer
Dear Colleagues:
During the last several months we have implemented hard stop policies for incomplete requisitions for Clinical Laboratory and Radiology exams on the heels of internal audits that revealed a troubling trend with far too many unsigned orders. I am happy to report that our colleagues in Radiology and Pathology are seeing fewer unsigned orders, but we still have room for improvement.
At our Phlebotomy draw stations, for example, there has been a significant decrease in the number of patients who are returned to their doctors’ offices because of incomplete requisitions. Clinical lab staff are working on a process to measure compliance with samples that are not collected at the draw stations.
In Radiology, where our data is more empirical than anecdotal, we know approximately 95 percent of exam orders are coming in with electronic physician signatures. That is certainly a good indication that we’re heading in the right direction. However, our physician community cannot take all the credit for this increase in compliance when our Radiology techs are doing an awful lot of behind the scenes work and searching to gain appropriate signatures to make sure patients are not showing up for an exam with an unsigned order.
In addition to thanking phlebotomists, Radiology techs and the staffs in Clinical Labs and Radiology for their support in these changes and for minimizing the impact on our patients, we must thank our practice managers and clinical support staff. Our practices have implemented systems to check and double check requisitions, and the effort shows. IS teams in both Radiology and Pathology, too, have been instrumental in providing us with electronic solutions where possible, and additional systems enhancements are planned.
However, continued vigilance on the front end of this process continues to be the obligation of the ordering physician. We need to be sure appropriate tests are ordered and completed for us to interpret the results and incorporate them into the plan of care.
Thank you for your continued cooperation.