Alerting for abnormal lab results

Purpose

1.1. Automate the detection and alerting of abnormal lab results for patients within medical groups.
1.2. Ensures clinical staff is notified immediately when critical or out-of-range values are detected.
1.3. Automates escalation to appropriate medical professionals for urgent review or intervention.
1.4. Streamlines compliance with regulatory requirements for timely patient safety notifications.
1.5. Integrates lab data systems with communication and workflow tools to minimize latency.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Incoming lab result flagged as abnormal by Laboratory Information System (LIS).
2.2. Result threshold exceeded (e.g., critical glucose, potassium, WBC).
2.3. Result matches patient condition flagged as ‘at risk’ in EHR.
2.4. Specific clinician or department assigned to notification based on type of abnormality.
2.5. Missed acknowledgment within defined SLA triggers escalated alert.

Platform Variants

3.1. Twilio SMS
• Feature/Setting: API SendMessage; Configure webhook for message on abnormal result detection.
3.2. SendGrid
• Feature/Setting: v3 Mail Send API; Automates sending of custom alert emails.
3.3. Microsoft Teams
• Feature/Setting: Incoming Webhook; Posts automated alerts to care team channels.
3.4. Slack
• Feature/Setting: Chat.postMessage API; Delivers automated alerts to clinical Slack groups.
3.5. PagerDuty
• Feature/Setting: Events API v2; Triggers incident when automation detects critical lab flags.
3.6. ServiceNow
• Feature/Setting: Incident Create API; Automates creation of clinical incident tickets.
3.7. Salesforce Health Cloud
• Feature/Setting: Workflow Rules; Automates task creation for flagged patients.
3.8. Epic (EHR)
• Feature/Setting: FHIR Notification API; Connects automated alerts directly into patient charts.
3.9. Cerner (EHR)
• Feature/Setting: Millennium Clinical Alerts API; Automates notifications in native workflow.
3.10. Google Workspace (Gmail)
• Feature/Setting: Apps Script SendMail; Customized triggered alert emails.
3.11. Microsoft Outlook
• Feature/Setting: Power Automate integration; Automates flagged result emails to clinicians.
3.12. RingCentral
• Feature/Setting: SMS API; Sends automated mobile alerts to physicians.
3.13. Zoho Cliq
• Feature/Setting: Webhooks; Posts automated abnormal result messages to dedicated channels.
3.14. AWS SNS
• Feature/Setting: Publish API; Multi-channel automated alerting (SMS, email, apps).
3.15. Google Chat
• Feature/Setting: Webhook endpoint; Posts automated message threads for alerts.
3.16. Cisco WebEx
• Feature/Setting: Bot API; Automated clinical notifications posted to care team spaces.
3.17. InterSystems HealthShare
• Feature/Setting: Notifications API; Automates HL7-based abnormal lab result alerts.
3.18. Jira Service Management
• Feature/Setting: REST API Create Issue; Automates ticketing for abnormal results.
3.19. Freshdesk
• Feature/Setting: Ticket API; Creates automated patient safety tickets on alerts.
3.20. Asana
• Feature/Setting: Tasks API; Automates creation of follow-up tasks for care teams.

Benefits

4.1. Automates real-time clinician notification, reducing delays and manual error.
4.2. Increases patient safety through immediate abnormal lab result flagging and automated escalation.
4.3. Automator platforms ensure compliance and audit trails by keeping automated records.
4.4. Automation standardizes response for all clinicians, making workflows repeatable and automatable.
4.5. Supports seamless integration across diverse EHR, communication, and workflow tools, automating previously manual steps.
4.6. Ensures alerts are delivered through multiple channels for redundancy, maximizing automation reliability.
4.7. Automated workflows free up clinical resources and improve overall care outcomes.
4.8. Automating the process allows continuous monitoring and proactive intervention, not merely reactive handling.