CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
August 2019—The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute has published the second edition of “GP33: Accuracy in Patient and Specimen Identification.” GP33 specifies the processes required to ensure accurate patient and specimen identification in manual or electronic systems across health care organizations. The document replaces the first edition, which was published only as a guideline. The second edition, upgraded to a standard, defines the proper protocol for identifying patients for all laboratory procedures and for labeling all diagnostic samples including blood and non-blood specimens.
The processes detailed in GP33 include considerations for designing patient ID systems, differences in requirements for patients with and without identification bands, and provisions for patients with communication barriers.