AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► Test result communication in primary care: a survey of current practice.

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Test result communication in primary care: a survey of current practice.

Litchfield I, Bentham L, Lilford R, McManus RJ, Hill A, Greenfield S. BMJ Qual Saf. 2015 Aug 4; [Epub ahead of print].

Failure to appropriately communicate test results is a recognized safety hazard in ambulatory care. Despitemore than a decade of research into this problem, this survey of 50 general practices in the United Kingdom found that 80% required patients to call to find out their test results, and a similar proportion had no fail-safe mechanism for tracking test results.

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