Quality Care

It’s no secret that arriving at a definitive diagnosis in medicine is a complex process involving many “moving parts”.  There is no “cookie cutter” or “one-size-fits-all” approach that can be...

Diagnostic errors represent a prominent issue for patient safety.  In an effort to improve accuracy in patient diagnosis, recent recommendations from the Institute of Medicine suggest that increased emphasis...

Since To Err is Human was published in 2000, healthcare has focused upon improving patient safety; specifically, reducing errors, decreasing hospital readmissions, and creating systems to reduce harm to...

The impact of millennials’ interpretations and expectations of quality service from the healthcare profession in general, and of laboratories in particular, continues to grow with each passing year.   Now...

On a daily basis medical laboratory professionals receive orders to perform laboratory tests that are appropriate as well as inappropriate with respect to providing clinicians with information that adds value...

  The science of Quality Improvement (sometimes referred to as Continuous Quality Improvement or Total Quality Management) has been applied for decades in manufacturing and other industries to reduce...

In 2003, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified the utilization of information technology as one of five essential competencies all healthcare practitioners need to deliver quality healthcare.1 With...

Healthcare today is increasingly complex. Expert clinical knowledge is not enough to ensure effective patient care. Strong communication skills, respect, and good connections among team members are critical to...

Serving the patient has always been at the heart of clinical laboratory medicine, however the Institute of Medicine has identified improving patient-centered care as a key competency to improve healthcare...

Many cultural groups, including gays and lesbians, disabled individuals, individuals with faiths unfamiliar to a practitioner, lower socioeconomic groups, ethnic minorities, and immigrant groups may receive no...