Use of computer terminals on wards to access emergency test results: a retrospective audit.

OBJECTIVE To assess delay in clinicians obtaining emergency biochemistry test results when the telephoning of results by laboratory staff is supplanted by installation of computer ward terminals. DESIGN Retrospective observational study. SETTING Accident and emergency department and acute medical admissions ward of a teaching hospital. SAMPLE 3228 emergency requests for biochemistry tests sent from the accident and emergency department and 1836 from the medical admissions ward during August 1999 to January 2000 when there was no recorded telephone contact for results. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Proportion of emergency biochemistry results accessed via a ward terminal within 1 or 3 hours of becoming available and the proportion never seen by this means. RESULTS The results from 1443/3228 (45%) of urgent requests from accident and emergency and 529/1836 (29%) from the admissions ward were never accessed via the ward terminal. Results from 794/3228 (25%) of accident and emergency requests and 413/1836 (22%) of admissions ward requests were seen within 1 hour of becoming available while a further 491/3228 (15%) and 341/1836 (19%) respectively were accessed between 1 and 3 hours. In up to 43/1443 (3%) of the accident and emergency test results that were never looked at the findings might have led to an immediate change in patient management. CONCLUSIONS When used as the sole substitute for telephoning results, the provision of terminal access to laboratory results on wards can hinder rather than promote the communication of emergency blood results to healthcare staff.