An audit of request forms submitted in a multidisciplinary diagnostic center in Lagos

INTRODUCTION: Request forms are important means of communication between physicians and diagnostic service providers. Pre-analytical errors account for over two thirds of errors encountered in diagnostic service provision. The importance of adequate completion of request forms is usually underestimated by physicians which may result in medical errors or delay in instituting appropriate treatment. The aim of this study was to audit the level of completion of request forms presented at a multidisciplinary diagnostic center. METHODS: A review of all requests forms for investigations which included radiologic, laboratory and cardiac investigations received between July and December 2011 was performed to assess their level of completeness. The data was entered into a spreadsheet and analyzed. RESULTS: Only 1.3% of the 7,841 request forms reviewed were fully completed. Patient's names, the referring physician's name and gender were the most completed information on the forms evaluated with 99.0%, 99.0% and 90.3% completion respectively. Patient's age was provided in 68.0%, request date in 88.2%, and clinical notes/ diagnosis in 65.9% of the requests. Patient's full address was provided in only 5.6% of requests evaluated. CONCLUSION: This study shows that investigation request forms are inadequately filled by physicians in our environment. Continuous medical education of physicians on the need for adequate completion of request forms is needed.