Mayo Clinic Study Tackles Labeling Errors

ROCHESTER, Minn. — With a long-held commitment to continuously improving the quality and safety of patient care, Mayo Clinic researchers are recommending a new technologically-advanced labeling system aimed at reducing specimen labeling errors in a high-volume gastrointestinal endoscopy center. That conclusion is based on the results of a study they are presenting at the 2008 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Meeting.

"The Gastroenterology and Colorectal Surgery outpatient endoscopy unit at our facility yields over 30,000 specimen bottles that are sent for pathologic review every year," says Dawn Francis, MD, the lead author and a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic. "Over the past several years, Mayo Clinic identified some issues with mislabeling of tissue specimens in the units. Most labeling errors have been due to either the wrong patient label or no label being affixed to a specimen bottle. As a result, a quality improvement initiative was created to reduce the number of specimen-labeling errors."

This study used a technology, radio-frequency identification (RFID), to track biopsy specimens taken during gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures and to automate identification. An RFID tag can be applied to or incorporated into an object so that it can be identified by using radio waves. Radio-frequency identification is used in other settings, such as libraries or passports, as an automated tracking system. This is its first application to track specimens in a health care setting.