Construction and operation of an abnormal value tracking system at Konan Kosei Hospital: Building a system to ensure that test results from the clinical laboratory are reliably communicated from the physician to the patient

Abstract

In modern healthcare, ensuring patient safety and improving the quality of medical care are among the most critical priorities. In particular, failures in communicating laboratory test results or overlooking abnormal findings can lead to the loss of treatment opportunities and may result in serious medical accidents. Important results—such as false-positive or higher findings in pathology tests and panic values in clinical examinations (test results that deviate significantly from the normal range and may pose an immediate threat to the patient’s life)—must be reliably communicated from physicians to patients, and prompt treatment must be initiated without omission. This report describes the development and implementation of a pathology and abnormal value tracking system using FileMaker Pro, and examines its effectiveness. The system aims to ensure that patients reliably receive their test results and to continuously track the subsequent course of treatment.