A Day in the Lab

I have a friend who works in a hospital lab, and I once overheard her husband wish her a boring day at work. It struck me as odd until I thought about the deeper implications of what that meant – a ‘boring’ day for her would mean fewer STAT tests for potential emergencies, and fewer tests with critical results. 

It would be wonderful news for patients if all days in the lab were boring. But since a typical hospital lab processes thousands of tests per day, slow days are few and far between. The good news is that communications have advanced a lot in the past several years and critical results are being reported more quickly. This means faster care and potentially better outcomes, even when test results are critical and life changing for someone. So, for all of you who work in the lab, radiology, and the ED… I wish you a boring day. (And if it’s not so boring, I wish you smooth communications instead.) 

Learn more about reporting test results quickly.