ArticleBMJ open2014
Laboratory test ordering and results management systems: a qualitative study of safety risks identified by administrators in general practice.
Article in BMJ open, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Communicating blood test results in primary care: a mixed-methods systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of the clinically oriented roles of a general practice receptionist: a systematic review with narrative synthesis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of eHealth use on general practice workload in the pre-COVID-19 era: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2024Pooled it
- Patient aggression towards receptionists in general practice: a systematic review.Family medicine and community health · 2023Pooled it
- User redesign, testing and evaluation of the Monitoring Risk and Improving System Safety (MoRISS) checklist for the general practice work environment.BMJ open quality · 2020Article
- Direct notification of cervical cytology results to women improves follow-up in cervical cancer screening - A cluster-randomised trial.Preventive medicine reports · 2019Article
- The impact of status and social context on health service co-design: an example from a collaborative improvement initiative in UK primary care.BMC medical research methodology · 2018Article
- Content analysis of 50 clinical negligence claims involving test results management systems in general practice.BMJ open quality · 2018Article
- The role of informal dimensions of safety in high-volume organisational routines: an ethnographic study of test results handling in UK general practice.Implementation science : IS · 2017Article
- Patient-centred improvement to repeat prescribing using the Always Event concept.BMJ open quality · 2017Article
- Article
- Routine failures in the process for blood testing and the communication of results to patients in primary care in the UK: a qualitative exploration of patient and provider perspectives.BMJ quality & safety · 2015Article
- Test result communication in primary care: a survey of current practice.BMJ quality & safety · 2015Article
- Participatory design of a preliminary safety checklist for general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore experiences and perceptions of frontline administrators involved in the systems-based management of laboratory test ordering and results handling in general medical practice.
designQualitative using focus group interviews.
settingWest of Scotland general medical practices in three National Health Service (NHS) territorial board areas.
participantsConvenience samples of administrators (receptionists, healthcare assistants and phlebotomists).
methodsTranscript data were subjected to content analysis.
resultsA total of 40 administrative staff were recruited. Four key themes emerged: (1) system variations and weaknesses (eg, lack of a tracking process is a known risk that needs to be addressed). (2) Doctor to administrator communication (eg, unclear information can lead to emotional impacts and additional workload). (3) Informing patients of test results (eg, levels of anxiety and uncertainty are experienced by administrators influenced by experience and test result outcome) and (4) patient follow-up and confidentiality (eg, maintaining confidentiality in a busy reception area can be challenging). The key findings were explained in terms of sociotechnical systems theory.
conclusionsThe study further confirms the safety-related problems associated with results handling systems and adds to our knowledge of the communication and psychosocial issues that can affect the health and well-being of staff and patients alike. However, opportunities exist for practices to identify barriers to safe care, and plan and implement system improvements to accommodate or mitigate the potential for human error in this complex area.
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Registered trials
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