title: Appropriate design of biochemistry request cards can promote the use of protocols and reduce unnecessary investigations.
abstract: Attempts to control laboratory workload in the past always proved to be short-lived. We designed a request card based on clinical conditions for a gynaecology out-patient clinic to help clinical staff to adhere to agreed investigation protocols. Each request card had a tick-box associated with a clinical condition. The tests performed for each condition were advertised on a poster in the clinic. The workload was assessed for a 2-year period before and after the introduction of these cards. The numbers of all endocrine tests, except progesterone and sex hormone binding globulin, fell by 19% (P<0.0001) whereas the clinical cases seen remained steady at 227 per month. This report demonstrates that agreed protocols can be implemented but that a persistent aide-mémoire is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Leeds General Infirmary, UK. j.h.barth@leeds.ac.uk
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Balen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jennings
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D019963:Clinical Chemistry Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology; D006728:Hormones / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D006113:United Kingdom; D016526:Workload
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006728:Hormones