Escalation process of critical values when these cannot be communicated on first attempt: A hospital-wide process improvement project.

Objectives: Since laboratory critical values reflect such an abnormal pathologic state that there is imminent danger to the patient, it is crucial to deliver the result upon initial call with an escalation process when the initial call cannot occur. In our 8-hospital system, one of the hospitals used the escalation procedure twice as frequently compared with the other hospitals. This work presents hospital-wide quality improvement processes that decreased escalation of critical value calls so as to reach the same proportion of escalated calls compared to other hospitals in the system.

Methods: The laboratory met weekly with leaders of different hospital areas and quality management; they presented the interventions they implemented, and the laboratory monitored their progress.

Results: Monitoring and reviewing with providers the importance of critical values decreased temporarily escalated calls from 25% to 18%. Having a dedicated phone to call critical values in each hospital area decreased the calls in a sustained fashion, which now fluctuate between 9% and 14%. Other interventions, including having a dedicated person receiving critical value results, did not decrease escalated critical value calls.

Conclusions: Having a dedicated phone in each hospital area that receives the initial critical value call simplifies and standardizes the process.