Management and Reporting of Haemolysed Specimens – a Review of Current Practice in Australia and New Zealand

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We present a review of the current practice on the handling and reporting of haemolysed blood samples for routine chemical pathology tests based on a sampling of patient reports for two haemolysed specimens distributed to multiple Australian and New Zealand laboratories/networks. The ability of laboratories to quantify haemolysis was assessed with data from the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Serum Indices program. Laboratory performance was assessed for compliance against Australian guidelines. While the majority of participating laboratories were consistent with some of the recommendations, there is a lack of harmonisation and an element of patient risk where potentially misleading results are being released without any indication that the sample was compromised; further, results that could have been released were being unnecessarily withheld.