LETTER
The Last Word on Using Grids
A. Marshall Smith, MD
15 February 1994 | Volume 120 Issue 4 | Page 347
TO THE EDITOR:
I read with interest the letter titled "Using Grids to Document Laboratory Results" [1]. I also have encountered difficulty in determining the laboratory results indicated by some residents, but I have not been able to influence their use of grids. To avoid confusion, I have adopted the habit of writing down the name of the test next to the value of interest. This approach does not require a great deal of extra time and eliminates the possibility of confusion. The various codes are not true short cuts and serve only to add confusion and the risk for harm to patients, as Spaulding and Silverblatt suggest. It is far better to take the extra seconds to say exactly what we mean.
This approach could be extended to the use of abbreviations, particularly in orders. One day I wrote in "PT" because I wanted a physical therapist to see the patient, and instead got back a prothrombin time. In the time it took me to find out why a physical therapist had not seen the patient, I could have written the order correctly many times over.
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Author and Article Information
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336 Mount Hope Avenue; Bangor, ME; 04401-4298
1. Spaulding A, Silverblatt FJ. Using grids to document laboratory results (Letter). Ann Intern Med. 1993; 119:863.
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