| STAT is a designation meaning IMMEDIATE. STAT tests should not be
requested except in conditions of the most dire type where results
will dictate immediate treatment plans or decision making. There is
no excuse to make something stat as a convenience, e.g. in order to
be paged, to provide a quick result to a client that is waiting, or
because the sample has been sitting around all day forgotten until
4 pm, then you want the results ASAP. We make every attempt to get
stat test results out as quickly as possible. Stats are pushed to
the head of our test queues, which can actually be quite long. This
means that the results for those tests that are not stat are actually
delayed, because the stat has jumped the queue (so to speak). In other
words, when you stat a test, you are inconveniencing other people,
who are waiting for their results, which have been delayed due to
the stats. Therefore, stats should never be done for convenience.
We make every attempt to get STATs done as soon as possible. However,
there are some unavoidable delays. The sample needs to be accessioned
and then placed on the appropriate equipment. We then need to wait
for the results to come off the equipment. In some cases, this can
take a while (e.g. slides take a minimum of 7 minutes to stain on
our slide stainer). Some results need to be reviewed by the Clinical
Pathologist on duty before they are entered into the computer, adding
another unavoidable delay.
Certain tests are never STAT. These include bone marrow aspirates
and immunologic tests (except for crossmatches).
All stats should be brought immediately and directly to the laboratory.
They should be clearly marked STAT.
|
Receiving stat results