As lab test results become available, all critical values will be called to the ordering facility and communicated to a licensed provider.
The OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Laboratory has established a policy that requires this call back to the provider be performed within 20 minutes of the test being resulted.
Every attempt is made to attain this goal and our critical call back rate continually runs near 100%. Our dedicated staff knows the quicker the results are available to the provider, the sooner the patient starts receiving care.
Affirmation of all critical call back activity will be documented into the laboratory computer system. This includes date and time of the call, OSF staff making the call, and the full name and title of the licensed provider to whom the critical results were phoned to.
Please Note: All callers will require the licensed provider to repeat back results to verify accuracy and acknowledge receipt.
Many labs that are ordered stat are resulted immediately, but have no critical values, and therefore, do not warrant a phone call to the ordering facility.
However, the OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center Laboratory has established guidelines for certain stat lab results that do require a phone call to the provider and also requires those results to be repeated back to verify accuracy.
All calls are documented in the laboratory computer system.