“Excessively complex” nomenclature makes it difficult for clinicians to properly order even common laboratory tests, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The combination of standardized naming conventions for laboratory tests and the development of smart interfaces in computerized physician order entry systems will improve the ability of clinicians to accurately order appropriate lab tests, the authors say. The paper, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Clinical Laboratory Integration into Healthcare Collaborative workgroup, identifies two root causes complicating the proper identification of tests. First, across laboratories there can be multiple names and abbreviations for a test—FBS, FGLU, FGLUC, GLUF, and FG all may refer to a fasting glucose test. There is not a uniform naming convention used by the laboratory industry with test names referring to the disease being looked for, the reagent used in the performance of the test, or even the name of the test developer or person who first identified the disease. Additionally, test names for very different analytes may look similar. The authors point to 2009 Medicare Part B clinical laboratory claims to demonstrate the magnitude of the problem. There were 26.1 million basic…
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