Effective communication with the laboratory to request specimens & get reports

The request form is essential for many points:

• Collect information about the sample, patient, prescriber, clinical details
• Perform the correct microbiological analysis with appropriate interpretation of the results

A sampling catalog or manual provided by the laboratory will be helpful for:

• Standardizing sample prescription and collection procedures
• Ensuring samples’ quality

This documentation must be easily accessible to improve the process.

The request form formalizes a contract between the prescriber and the laboratory

Each undertakes to respect its part of the contract

• Prescription
  sample collection
• Reliable result quality assurance
• Performance
  transmission of results

• Relevance of the request
• Compliance with sampling procedures
• Unambiguous identification of the sample and form
• Form fully completed
• Necessary clinical details

• Inoculate/process sample as soon as possible 
• Take into account clinical information
• Ensure reliability of results (quality control, SOPs, staff training) 
• Transmit relevant results to the prescriber in a timely manner

• Communicate relevant information to the right people and in an optimal timeframe
• Define and formalize day-to-day communication with physicians

Tools

• Result software if available
• Phone 
• Face to face (ward visit, daily meeting between physicians and biologists)
• Written report (preliminary and final report)

Visit the laboratory!

• Ask lab staff to show you Gram stain
• Get to know what certain bacteria look like on agar plates

• In meeting lab doctors: define the critical results to be called 
• Make a list of microbiological results to be called and displayed it in the lab
• Direct examination? For which samples? 
• Identified pathogens? Which pathogens? 
• Rapid diagnostic test? 
• Multi Drug Resistant bacteria? 

Examples:

• Direct examination
• Positive blood cutlure
  Cerebrospinal fluid
  Mycobacterium Tuberculosis positive PCR, or Ziehl staining
• Identified pathogens
• S.aureus
  S. pneumoniae
  N.gonorrhoeae
  Burkholderia pseudomallei
• MDR
• MRSA
  ESBL
  CRE
• Rapid diagnostic
• Syphilis
  Dengue fever
  COVID

When we report the result

• Identity of the patient must be complete and accurate
• Make sure you speak to qualified staff
• Record in your worksheet that the result has been communicated

Good communication is always the key!