Do reflex comments on laboratory reports alter patient management?
Abstract
© The Author(s) 2020. Introduction: Laboratory comments appended on clinical biochemistry reports are common in the UK. Although popular with clinicians and the public, there is little evidence that these comments influence the clinical management of patients. Methods: We provided reflex automated laboratory comments on all primary care lipid results including, if appropriate, recommendation of direct referral to the West Midlands Familial Hypercholesterolaemia service (WMFHS). Over a two-year period, the number GP referrals from the Wolverhampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to the WMFHS were compared with four comparator CCGs of similar population size, who were not provided with reflex laboratory comments. Results: Over the study period, the WMFHS received more referrals from Wolverhampton GPs (241) than any other comparator CCG (range 8–65) and greater than the combined referrals (172) from all four comparator CCGs. Conclusion: Targeted reflex laboratory comments may influence the clinical management of patients and may have a role in the identification of individuals with familial hypercholesterolaemia.Citation
Wilkinson, B., Whitehead, S.J., George, E. et al. (2020) Do reflex comments on laboratory reports alter patient management? Annals of Clinical Biochemistry, 57(4), pp. 312-315.Publisher
SAGE PublicationsJournal
Annals of Clinical BiochemistryPubMed ID
32369399 (pubmed)Additional Links
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0004563220928355Type
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by SAGE in Annals of Clinical Biochemistry on 05/05/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1177/0004563220928355 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.ISSN
0004-5632EISSN
1758-1001ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/0004563220928355
Scopus Count
Collections
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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