Retrospective evaluation of repeated supratherapeutic ingestion (RSTI) of paracetamol †.

Background: Repeated supratherapeutic ingestion (RSTI) of paracetamol can result in acute liver injury. Management guidelines vary worldwide and in Australia, acetylcysteine treatment is recommended in patients with a paracetamol concentration ≥20 mg/L and/or alanine transaminase (ALT) ≥50 U/L. Objectives: To investigate patients with RSTI of paracetamol and determine whether admission ALT <50 U/L rules out those who develop hepatotoxicity (ALT >1000 U/L). Method: Retrospective review of paracetamol RSTI presentations to two toxicology services over a four-year period. Patients were included if they ingested >4 g per 24 h of paracetamol for a period >8 h, regardless of intent. Data collected included demographics, ingestion history, pathology results, treatments and outcomes. Results: 266 patients were identified with median ingested dose of 9 g per 24 h (IQR: 6-12 g) over a median of 2 days (IQR: 1-5 days). On presentation, paracetamol was detected in 192 (72%), with median concentration of 14 mg/L (IQR: 7-27 mg/L). Median ALT on admission in those developing hepatotoxicity was significantly higher, 1182 U/L (IQR: 598-4251 U/L), compared to 30 U/L (IQR: 18-59 U/L; p < .0001) in those who did not. All 17 who developed hepatotoxicity had an ALT ≥50 U/L on presentation. Five patients presenting with an ALT <50 U/L developed a peak ALT between 50 and 1000 U/L, of which three had a paracetamol concentration <20 mg/L. 139 (52%) received acetylcysteine, of which 64 received an abbreviated course (<20 h), with a median length of infusion of 11 h (IQR: 7-14 h). 127 (48%) patients were not treated with acetylcysteine, none of these patients returned to hospital. Conclusions: Our results confirm that those developing hepatotoxicity from RSTI of paracetamol have an elevated ALT on presentation. Presenting ALT <50 U/L appears to be a safe threshold not to administer acetylcysteine, provided the paracetamol concentration is low.

Integrating the Radiology Information System with Computerised Provider Order Entry: The Impact on Repeat Medical Imaging Investigations.

Repeat and redundant procedures in medical imaging are associated with increases in resource utilisation and labour costs. Unnecessary medical imaging in some modalities, such as X-Ray (XR) and Computed Tomography (CT) is an important safety issue because it exposes patients to ionising radiation which can be carcinogenic and is associated with higher rates of cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of implementing an integrated Computerised Provider Order Entry (CPOE)/Radiology Information System (RIS)/Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) system on the number of XR and CT imaging procedures (including repeat imaging requests) for inpatients at a large metropolitan hospital. The study found that patients had an average 0.47 fewer XR procedures and 0.07 fewer CT procedures after the implementation of the integrated system. Part of this reduction was driven by a lower rate of repeat procedures: the average inpatient had 0.13 fewer repeat XR procedures within 24-hours of the previous identical XR procedure. A similar decrease was not evident for repeat CT procedures. Reduced utilisation of imaging procedures (especially those within very short intervals from the previous identical procedure, which are more likely to be redundant) has implications for the safety of patients and the cost of medical imaging services.

Data quality associated with handwritten laboratory test requests: classification and frequency of data-entry errors for outpatient serology tests.

OBJECTIVE: Manual data-entry of handwritten laboratory test requests into electronic information systems has implications for data accuracy. This study sought to identify the types and number of errors occurring for handwritten serology test requests received from outpatient clinics. METHODS: A 15-day audit at a serology laboratory in Sydney, Australia, compared the content of all transcribed serology outpatient test requests in the laboratory information system with the handwritten request form. RESULTS: One or more errors were detected in 67/627 (10.7%) audited requests (N=68 errors). Fifty-one of the errors (75.0%) were transcription errors: the wrong test was transcribed in 40/68 cases (58.8%)--ten of these occurred when the abbreviations 'HBsAb' and 'HBsAg' were confounded for one another--and transcribed requests were missing a test in 11/68 cases (16.2%). The remaining 17 non-transcription errors (25.0%) described request forms not signed by the ordering clinician, mislabelled specimens, and wrong tests due to computer algorithm errors. CONCLUSIONS: Manual data-entry of handwritten serology requests is an error-prone process. Electronic ordering has the potential to eliminate illegible handwriting and transcription errors, thus improving data accuracy in hospital information systems.

The Impact of an Electronic Medical Record on Repeat Laboratory Test Ordering Across Four Australian Hospitals.

In this study we examined the impact of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) on repeat test rates (i.e., the same test ordered within a specified window of time) for a commonly ordered set of laboratory tests; Electrolytes, Urea, Creatinine [EUC], Full Blood Counts [FBC] and Liver Function Tests [LFT]. The results point to the potential that timely, evidence-based electronic decision support features can have on the efficiency and effectiveness of the pathology laboratory process and its contribution to quality patient care.

What is the effect of electronic pathology ordering on test re-ordering patterns for paediatric patients?

Electronic ordering systems have the potential to enhance the efficient utilisation of pathology services. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of electronic pathology ordering on repeat test ordering for paediatric patients (ages 0 to 18 years) who were in intensive care units (ICUs) and non-ICU wards. The dataset described 85,728 pathology tests ordered for 5,073 children before and after the implementation of electronic ordering. This study showed that, for children in ICUs, the repeat test order rate was significantly lower for electronic orders than for paper-based orders. Similarly, the rate of repeat tests ordered within short intervals (up to 23-hours), for children older than one-year in non-ICU wards, was lower for electronic ordering than for paper ordering. The proportion of repeat tests occurring within one-hour of the previous test was consistently lower for tests ordered using electronic ordering than it was for tests ordered using the paper based system for patients older than one-year in all wards and for patients under one-year in ICUs. These results suggest that features of the electronic system, including alerts about previously ordered tests and the availability of information about previous orders, can help clinicians to identify and reduce unnecessary repeat tests.

Examination of changes in pathology tests ordered by Diagnosis-Related Group (DRGs) following CPOE introduction.

Electronic test ordering, via the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), which incorporates computerised provider order entry (CPOE), is widely considered as a useful tool to support appropriate pathology test ordering. Diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) are clinically meaningful categories that allow comparisons in pathology utilisation by patient groups by controlling for many potentially confounding variables. This study used DRG data linked to pathology test data to examine changes in rates of test ordering across four years coinciding with the introduction of an EMR in six hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. This method generated a list of high pathology utilisation DRGs. We investigated patients with a Chest pain DRG to examine whether tests rates changed for specific test groups by hospital emergency department (ED) pre- and post-EMR. There was little change in testing rates between EDs or between time periods pre- and post-EMR. This is a valuable method for monitoring the impact of EMR and clinical decision support on test order rates.