Ladies--

As you all know, I've been working at OML (Oregon Medical Labs) for the last 7 months. I really enjoy this job, it's pretty easy...a lot of data entry.

But I have run into something that I see every once in awhile (but not so much that it's a huge problem...just harder for us)that just saddens me that I thought I would pass on to you.

When filling out the forms you receive from the Dr's office...it's always good to print legibly so when you're information is being entered later, we can read what it is that you are writing. We have LOTS of names that just aren't able to be read and LOTS of SS#'s and phone #'s that are very hard to tell what number is what!(you sure don't want your SS # mixed up w/someone elses and get the wrong information or results!) Also...if you ever wonder why they haven't called you when they said they would.....

Also....now, I don't know if this is possible or not...but if you're getting some blood work done...please check to see if the nurse who drew the blood has printed your name on the specimen!! We've had some that are completely unlabled and......we can't test on them! Which mean, a redraw, and if you have little ones or if you are squeemish when it comes to needles...this is not a fun process. We end up having to call the client and tell them the news that there is no info and they need to recollect.

I'm amazed at how many unlegible writings I see and how many unlabled specimens come in. Of coarse, a lot of it due to the Dr or nurse who is in such a hurry to scribble out the information and we have to decipher,(we do call them to verify) but the simple stuff like filling out forms.....would sure help out all the data entry workers a lot!

Ok...just thought I would pass this along!

Hey Marti, that is sad. You would love it here, I would say most clinics now have electronic stickers that are put on the specimens and the sheet it comes with. It has all our info on it.

Same here Angie. I can't remember the last time I saw someone in the medical field write anything. They have always had preprinted stickers.

But that is good to know Marti and thanks for passing it along.

Great info Marti!! Yikes! Never thought of all that can go wrong in a situration like that. I've seen the nurse's still have to write it on the specimen bottles around here. And of course, the forms we fill out ourselves can tend to be a little rushed and therefore sloppy.

Thanks for the head's up, Marti!!

We have the stickers too......just not all clients have them. We tend to LOVE those clients! Just not all of them have the sticker luxery I guess.

Yesterday I had my blood drawn and she was writing my name on the req. and she spelt it wrong...so I told her to fix it. It looked a little sloppy but I figured everyone at work knew me and should get it right.....I got to work and low and behold, the firs bucket I grabbed had my stuff in it. So I got to enter my own information. How weird was that?

MArti I keep thinking about this,,,,what if a person is really sick and their vial of blood doesn't have their name on it? And normally you don't get a call from your DR unless there is aproblem,,,right? (not my Dr actually he wants to see you for everything good or bad)
They wouldn't get a call cause their vial doen't have their info on it.

Angie--Someone who is really sick, the specimen is handled in a STAT manner. It get's handled right away.

I hope I didn't worry people, not my intention, just wanted to say that writing legibly would help so much. Printing is best!

Also, any specimen that is unlabled, is handled as a priority and delt w/right away. They call the patient to come in for a redraw...or if they're in the hospital, they just do it then.

We have been working on making it much better and there is an improvement. And the non-labled specimens, are few....so not to worry about that.

SO SORRY if I worried any of you!!