Patient safety in actioning and communicating blood test results in primary care: a UK wide audit using the Primary Care Academic CollaboraTive (PACT).
Failure to communicate test results in a timely manner can lead to delayed or missed diagnoses. Using data from 2,572 patients across 57 general practices in the United Kingdom, this study audited the process for filing, actioning, and communicating blood test results. The researchers found that nearly half of patients (47%) had no documented evidence of blood test result communication in the electronic health record (EHR), even for abnormal results.