KliniskBiokemi i Norden · 2 2014
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when corrective actions were targeted only at one
or a few customers no change in satisfaction rating
was seen.
Spontaneous customer feedback
In order to evaluate the usefulness of spontaneous
feedback, the spontaneous feedback data collected
from the clinical units of theuniversityhospital and
from external customers (health centers and other
hospitals) during six years was analyzed in detail
(17,18). Investigations based on the feedback reports
revealederrors in laboratory services in70%and82%
of the cases reported by the clinical units and exter-
nal customers, respectively. Erroneous, delayed and
lacking test results made up over 90% of the errors
inboth customer groups. These kinds of errorsmay
have harmful consequences for clinical processes as
well as for patients.
It is important to clarify the underlying causes of
errors because it offers a possibility to target correc-
tive actions properly (9-11). In our analysis, errors
found in the investigationswereclassified intoactive
Table 1. Classification of errors or defects categorized according to the steps of the laboratory process and according to their
underlying causes based on the spontaneous feedback data from external customers.
1
1
With kind permission from Springer Science+BusinessMedia: OjaPI, Kouri TT, PakarinenAJ. Reacting to spontaneous
feedback from external customers in auniversity hospital laboratory. AccredQual Assur 2010;15:415-420. (p. 417, Table 2)
