Findings suggesting a specimen problem:
(1) finding noted by phlebotomist or technologist (clot seen, other)
(2) something abnormal in transport or processing of specimen
(3) same result on different analyzer AND new specimen gives different result
(4) mislabeling
Findings suggesting a technical problem:
(1) problem during analysis noted by technologist
(2) problem with quality control results
(3) different result on old specimen run again on same instrument (repeat run)
(4) different result on old specimen run on a different instrument
(5) different result on new specimen by different instrument
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First Specimen, First Instrument
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First Specimen, Second Instrument
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Second Specimen, First Instrument
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Second Specimen, Second Instrument
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Problem
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abnormal
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abnormal
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normal
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normal
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specimen problem
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abnormal
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normal
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abnormal
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normal
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technical problem
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abnormal
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abnormal
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abnormal
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abnormal
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not a lab problem
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Other problems to consider:
(1) transcription error when entering results
Implementation Note: There are 16 possible combinations for the responses but only 6 patterns match a conclusion (0000, 0100, 1000,1010,1100,1111).
