Clinical Microbiology: Quality in Laboratory Diagnosis

Diagnostic Standards of Care Series

A key issue for every laboratory and individual laboratory practitioner is the assessment of risk and a current working knowledge of the standards of care established for diagnostic testing via guidelines, major studies and trials. The Diagnostic Standards of Care series presents an overview of the key diagnoses in clinical pathology using case examples to illustrate effective analysis of the case in light of current evidence and standards for the problem discussed. In addition to being practical diagnostic guides, these volumes will have a unique emphasis on quality assurance and evidence-based testing practices and the role of the pathologist in ensuring quality and patient safety.

Clinical Microbiology addresses common medical errors seen in the clinical microbiology laboratory in order to show these errors to pathologists and laboratory technicians as well as clinicians. The goal is to allow such errors to be corrected by both individual effort and a systems approach in the laboratory. The book addresses potential medical errors in test ordering and specimen collection, testing in the laboratory, and reporting and interpretation of test results. Each of these phases can have an adverse impact on the diagnosis and treatment of an infectious disease if a medical error occurs. Potential medical errors are described and discussed in a clinical case-based learning format to effectively illustrate the conditions that contribute to these errors and enable the reader to recognize and avoid them in daily practice.

• Descriptions of potential errors in test ordering and specimen collection in clinical microbiology
• Descriptions of potential errors in test performance in clinical microbiology
• Descriptions of potential errors in test reporting and interpretation in clinical microbiology
• Clinical case discussions provide "real world" illustrations of potential errors and how to anticipate and avoid them in practice
• Is pocket-sized for portability