The Joint Commission and the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine collaborated on the advisory to curb errors that arise from communication lapses between physicians’ offices and labs. Closed-loop communication requires every test result to be sent, received, acknowledged and acted upon without failure.
In particular, it helps prevent “one of the most important causes of medical error: the failure to inform patients of abnormal test results which require follow-up,” said Ed Pollak, MD, patient safety officer and medical director at the Joint Commission.
The advisory offers strategies for implementing closed-loop communication, such as establishing consistent processes to ensure that test results are communicated to a clinician responsible for follow-up care. It also recommends speaking with patients in addition to communicating online, as not all patients use online portals, and often the portals do not explain diagnoses.
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