• Edward B Liebow, James H Derzon, John Fontanesi, Alessandra M Favoretto, Rich Ann Baetz, Colleen Shaw, Pamela Thompson, Diana Mass, Robert Christenson, Paul Epner, and Susan R Snyder.
• Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, USA. liebowe@battelle.org
• Clin. Biochem. 2012 Sep 1;45(13-14):979-87.

ObjectiveTo conduct a systematic review of the evidence available in support of automated notification methods and call centers and to acknowledge other considerations in making evidence-based recommendations for best practices in improving the timeliness and accuracy of critical value reporting.Design And MethodsThis review followed the Laboratory Medicine Best Practices (LMBP) review methods (Christenson, et al. 2011). A broad literature search and call for unpublished submissions returned 196 bibliographic records which were screened for eligibility. 41 studies were retrieved. Of these, 4 contained credible evidence for the timeliness and accuracy of automatic notification systems and 5 provided credible evidence for call centers for communicating critical value information in in-patient care settings.ResultsStudies reporting improvement from implementing automated notification findings report mean differences and were standardized using the standard difference in means (d=0.42; 95% CI=0.2-0.62) while studies reporting improvement from implementing call centers generally reported criterion referenced findings and were standardized using odds ratios (OR=22.1; 95% CI=17.1-28.6).ConclusionsThe evidence, although suggestive, is not sufficient to make an LMBP recommendation for or against using automated notification systems as a best practice to improve the timeliness of critical value reporting in an in-patient care setting. Call centers, however, are effective in improving the timeliness of critical value reporting in an in-patient care setting, and meet LMBP criteria to be recommended as an "evidence-based best practice."Copyright © 2012 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. All rights reserved.

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