Managing hemolysis in serum neuron-specific enolase measurements - an automated algorithm for routine practice.

Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) derived from neurons and peripheral neuroendocrine cells is a biomarker for neuroendocrine tumors and for prognostication in comatose cardiac arrest survivors. However, as platelets and erythrocytes contain NSE, hemolysis causes falsely elevated NSE. We used native serum and hemolysate derived from the same patients to make serial dilutions, and subsequently measured NSE (mNSE) and hemolytic index (HI) in each dilution. An algorithm suitable for the laboratory information system was developed based on the mNSE, HI and the estimated gradient of hemolytic interference from 30 patients. We estimated the associated uncertainty of the corrected NSE (cNSE) results based on the observed range of the gradient and derived an equation for cNSE for samples with limited hemolysis (i.e. 5 < HI ≤ 30): cNSE = mNSE - HI × (0.34 ± 0.23) µg/L. By semi-quantitatively grading the contribution from limited hemolysis, a texted result noting the hemolysis-associated degree of uncertainty can accompany the cNSE result. The major challenge of hemolysis when using serum NSE as a biomarker can be managed using an automated algorithm for correction of NSE results based on degree of hemolysis. However, laboratorians and clinicians should be aware of the limitations associated with in vivo hemolysis.

Analysis of laboratory data transmission between two healthcare institutions using a widely used point-to-point health information exchange platform: a case report.

Objective: The objective was to identify information loss that could affect clinical care in laboratory data transmission between 2 health care institutions via a Health Information Exchange platform. Materials and Methods: Data transmission results of 9 laboratory tests, including LOINC codes, were compared in the following: between sending and receiving electronic health record (EHR) systems, the individual Health Level Seven International (HL7) Version 2 messages across the instrument, laboratory information system, and sending EHR. Results: Loss of information for similar tests indicated the following potential patient safety issues: (1) consistently missing specimen source; (2) lack of reporting of analytical technique or instrument platform; (3) inconsistent units and reference ranges; (4) discordant LOINC code use; and (5) increased complexity with multiple HL7 versions. Discussion and Conclusions: Using an HIE with standard messaging, SHIELD (Systemic Harmonization and Interoperability Enhancement for Laboratory Data) recommendations, and enhanced EHR functionality to support necessary data elements would yield consistent test identification and result value transmission.

Establishing and Leading a 3D Postprocessing Radiology Lab: A Managerial and Leadership Perspective.

The rapid acquisition of larg volumes of thin-section CT images has created a considerable need and interest for 3D postprocessing during the interpretation of medical imaging. As a result of the increasing number of postprocessing applications, requiring diagnostic radiologists to perform postprocessing is no longer realistic. This article is a comprehensive review of medical resources regarding establishing a postprocessing radiology laboratory. Besides, leadership and managerial aspects have been covered through a professional business lens. In large-volume settings, a dedicated 3D postprocessing lab ensures the quality, reproducibility, and efficiency of images. Adequate staffing is necessary to fulfill the postprocessing requirements. Educational and experience requirements for 3D technologists may vary among different running laboratories. To evaluate the establishment and running of a 3D lab, it is beneficial to implement diagnostic radiology cost-effectiveness tools. Although establishing a 3D lab has many benefits, certain challenges should be considered. Outsourcing or offshoring may serve as alternatives for establishing a postprocessing laboratory. Building and operating a 3D lab is a significant change in healthcare facilities, and it is crucial for organizations to be aware of the strong resistance toward alternatives the status quo, known as the status quo trap. The change process has essential steps, and skipping the steps creates an illusion of speed but never produces satisfactory results. The organization should ensure the engagement of all interested parties in the whole process. Moreover, a clear vision and proper communication of the vision are vital, and it is crucial to value small wins and ensure expectation clarity in leading the lab during the process.

Consumers' Needs for Laboratory Results Portals: Questionnaire Study.

BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of health care consumers (ie, patients, citizens, and laypeople) with access to their laboratory results through portals. However, many portals are not designed with the consumer in mind, which can limit communication effectiveness and consumer empowerment. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to study design facilitators and barriers affecting consumer use of a laboratory results portal. We sought to identify modifiable design attributes to inform future interface specifications and improve patient safety. METHODS: A web-based questionnaire with open- and closed-ended items was distributed to consumers in British Columbia, Canada. Open-ended items with affinity diagramming and closed-ended questions with descriptive statistics were analyzed. RESULTS: Participants (N=30) preferred reviewing their laboratory results through portals rather than waiting to see their provider. However, respondents were critical of the interface design (ie, interface usability, information completeness, and display clarity). Scores suggest there are display issues impacting communication that require urgent attention. CONCLUSIONS: There are modifiable usability, content, and display issues associated with laboratory results portals that, if addressed, could arguably improve communication effectiveness, patient empowerment, and health care safety.

Designing a minimum data set of laboratory data for the electronic summary sheet of pediatric ward in Iran: A cross-sectional study.

Background and Aim: Iranian hospitals are provided with hospital information systems (HISs) from different vendors, which make it hardly possible to summarize laboratory data in an consistent manner. Therefore, there is a need to design a minimum data set of laboratory data that will define standard criteria and reduce potential medical errors. The purpose of this study was to design a minimum data set (MDS) of laboratory data for an electronic summary sheet to be used in the pediatric ward of Iranian hospitals. Methods: This study consists of three phases. In the first phase, out of 3997 medical records from the pediatric ward, 604 summary sheets were chosen as sample. The laboratory data of these sheets were examined and the recorded tests were categorized. In the second phase, based on the types of diagnosis we developed a list of tests. Then we asked the physicians of the ward to select which ones should be documented for each patient's diagnosis. In the third phase, the tests that were reported in 21%-80% of the records, and were verified by the same percentage of physicians, were evaluated by the experts' panel. Results: In the first phase, 10,224 laboratory data were extracted. Of these, 144 data elements reported in more than 80% of the records, and more than 80% of experts approved them to be included in the MDS for patients' summary sheet. After data elements were investigated in the experts' panel, 292 items were chosen for the final list of the data set. Conclusions: This MDS was designed such that, if implemented in hospital information systems, it could automatically enable registering data in the summary sheet when patient's diagnosis is registered.

Effectiveness of a Mobile App (PIMPmyHospital) in Reducing Therapeutic Turnaround Times in an Emergency Department: Protocol for a Pre- and Posttest Study.

BACKGROUND: Delays in reviewing issued laboratory results in emergency departments (EDs) can adversely affect efficiency and quality of care. One opportunity to improve therapeutic turnaround time could be to provide real-time access to laboratory results on mobile devices available to every caregiver. We developed a mobile app named "Patients In My Pocket in my Hospital" (PIMPmyHospital) to help ED caregivers automatically obtain and share relevant information about the patients they care for including laboratory results. OBJECTIVE: This pre- and posttest study aims to explore whether the implementation of the PIMPmyHospital app impacts the timeliness with which ED physicians and nurses remotely access laboratory results while actively working in their real-world environment, including ED length of stay, technology acceptance and usability among users, and how specific in-app alerts impact on its effectiveness. METHODS: This single-center study of nonequivalent pre- and posttest comparison group design will be conducted before and after the implementation of the app in a tertiary pediatric ED in Switzerland. The retrospective period will cover the previous 12 months, and the prospective period will cover the following 6 months. Participants will be postgraduate residents pursuing a ≤6-year residency in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine fellows, and registered nurses from the pediatric ED. The primary outcome will be the mean elapsed time in minutes from delivery of laboratory results to caregivers' consideration by accessing them either through the hospital's electronic medical records or through the app before and after the implementation of the app, respectively. As secondary outcomes, participants will be queried about the acceptance and usability of the app using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model and the System Usability Scale. ED length of stay will be compared before and after the implementation of the app for patients with laboratory results. The impact of specific alerts on the app, such as a flashing icon or sound for reported pathological values, will be reported. RESULTS: Retrospective data collection gathered from the institutional data set will span a 12-month period from October 2021 to October 2022, while the 6-month prospective collection will begin with the implementation of the app in November 2022 and is expected to cease at the end of April 2023. We expect the results of the study to be published in a peer-reviewed journal in late 2023. CONCLUSIONS: This study will show the potential reach, effectiveness, acceptance, and use of the PIMPmyHospital app among ED caregivers. The findings of this study will serve as the basis for future research on the app and any further development to improve its effectiveness. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05557331; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05557331. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05557331; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05557331. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/43695.

A dataset examining the impact of direct electronic medical record interfacing on the accuracy of point-of-care urinalysis results.

Point-of-care testing is widely used in a variety of clinical settings. While this testing provides immediate and actionable clinical information, it is prone to error in both the interpretation and reporting of results. Point-of-care urinalysis presents unique opportunities for errors, ranging from variation in visual interpretation to input of results. The data included here represent the results from 63,279 urinalyses from 36,780 unique patients performed over a span of three years at an academic medical center and its associated clinics. The data include the patient age/legal sex, methodology (instrument and test strip used), and the available test results (color, clarity, glucose, bilirubin, ketones, specific gravity, blood, pH, protein, urobilinogen, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase). Additionally, we include the method of interface between the testing instrumentation and our electronic medical record (EMR). These fell into one of three broad categories: "Interfaced" (results directly transmitted from the urinalysis instrument to the EMR via specialized data interface), "Manual" (results input by selecting from a drop-down menu in the laboratory information system), and "Enter/Edit" (results typed freely into a text field in the EMR). Analysis of this data was primarily a direct comparison of detectable errors (typos, uninterpretable results, and results outside the reportable range) as a function of the method of entry into the EMR. Secondary analysis comparing the impact of restricting drop-down menu options for urine color and clarity was also performed. These data are of use to others as they are diverse in terms of the test performed and the method of interface. Others may wish to analyze these data when making decisions as to how to perform and report these tests and when estimating risks of error with various methods of data entry.

Caring for transgender populations: A primer for the dermatopathologist.

With increasing access to electronic health records, patients may encounter dermatopathology reports more readily. Dermatopathologists should consider their impact and interactions with transgender patients, who may face specific health and healthcare inequities. Rendering accurate diagnosis for skin diseases requires accurate information about patient's sex assigned at birth and gender identity. Understanding how sex and gender identity data flow between electronic health records, laboratory information systems, insurance billing systems, and patients will be important to avoid patient misgendering, to render accurate diagnoses, to maintain consistency in dermatopathology reports, and to avoid insurance billing denials. Dermatopathologists have important roles to build patient trust in the healthcare system and to help dermatologists diagnose, treat, and characterize skin diseases in transgender populations.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Overlooked Results and Other Errors in Evaluating Online Laboratory Results.

People are increasingly accessing their own laboratory (lab) results online. However, Canadians may be expected to use different systems to access their results, depending upon where they are tested (e.g., community lab vs. hospital), and these results may be displayed differently. This study examined the extent to which participants without medical expertise (N = 25) made errors identifying lab results (i.e., missing or mis-identifying abnormal results) in a mock report. Six participants overlooked each of the flagged values, 20 participants missed an abnormal result that was not flagged, and 2 participants mis-identified a normal value as out of range. We describe potential causes of these errors and the implications for the design of consumer-facing lab results.

Development and Implementation of a Standard Format for Clinical Laboratory Test Results.

OBJECTIVES: Surprisingly, laboratory results, the principal output of clinical laboratories, are not standardized. Thus, laboratories frequently report results with identical meaning in different formats. For example, laboratories report a positive pregnancy test as "+," "P," or "Positive." To assess the feasibility of a widespread implementation of a result standard, we (1) developed a standard result format for common laboratory tests and (2) implemented a feedback system for clinical laboratories to view their unstandardized results. METHODS: In the largest integrated health care system in America, 130 facilities had the opportunity to collaboratively develop the standard. For 15 weeks, clinical laboratories received a weekly report of their unstandardized results. At the study's conclusion, laboratories were compared with themselves and their peers by metrics that reflected their unstandardized results. RESULTS: We rereviewed 156 million test results and observed a 51% decline in the rate of unstandardized results. The number of facilities with fewer than 23 unstandardized results per 100,000 (Six Sigma σ > 5) increased by 58% (52 to 82 facilities; ß = 1.79; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated significant improvement in the standardization of clinical laboratory results in a relatively short time. The laboratory community should create and promulgate a standardized result format.

Encoding laboratory testing data: case studies of the national implementation of HHS requirements and related standards in five laboratories.

OBJECTIVE: Assess the effectiveness of providing Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC®)-to-In Vitro Diagnostic (LIVD) coding specification, required by the United States Department of Health and Human Services for SARS-CoV-2 reporting, in medical center laboratories and utilize findings to inform future United States Food and Drug Administration policy on the use of real-world evidence in regulatory decisions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared gaps and similarities between diagnostic test manufacturers' recommended LOINC® codes and the LOINC® codes used in medical center laboratories for the same tests. RESULTS: Five medical centers and three test manufacturers extracted data from laboratory information systems (LIS) for prioritized tests of interest. The data submission ranged from 74 to 532 LOINC® codes per site. Three test manufacturers submitted 15 LIVD catalogs representing 26 distinct devices, 6956 tests, and 686 LOINC® codes. We identified mismatches in how medical centers use LOINC® to encode laboratory tests compared to how test manufacturers encode the same laboratory tests. Of 331 tests available in the LIVD files, 136 (41%) were represented by a mismatched LOINC® code by the medical centers (chi-square 45.0, 4 df, P < .0001). DISCUSSION: The five medical centers and three test manufacturers vary in how they organize, categorize, and store LIS catalog information. This variation impacts data quality and interoperability. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that providing the LIVD mappings was not sufficient to support laboratory data interoperability. National implementation of LIVD and further efforts to promote laboratory interoperability will require a more comprehensive effort and continuing evaluation and quality control.

Effectiveness of a Mobile App in Reducing Therapeutic Turnaround Time and Facilitating Communication between Caregivers in a Pediatric Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.

For maintaining collaboration and coordination among emergency department (ED) caregivers, it is essential to effectively share patient-centered information. Indirect activities on patients, such as searching for laboratory results and sharing information with scattered colleagues, waste resources to the detriment of patients and staff. Therefore, we conducted a pilot study to evaluate the initial efficacy of a mobile app to facilitate rapid mobile access to central laboratory results and remote interprofessional communication. A total of 10 ED residents and registered nurses were randomized regarding the use of the app versus conventional methods during semi-simulated scenarios in a pediatric ED (PED). The primary outcome was the elapsed time in minutes in each group from the availability of laboratory results to their consideration by participants. The secondary outcome was the elapsed time to find a colleague upon request. Time to consider laboratory results was significantly reduced from 23 min (IQR 10.5-49.0) to 1 min (IQR 0-5.0) with the use of the app compared to conventional methods (92.2% reduction in mean times, p = 0.0079). Time to find a colleague was reduced from 24 min to 1 min (i.e., 93.0% reduction). Dedicated mobile apps have the potential to improve information sharing and remote communication in emergency care.

National survey report on the current situations and development requirements of emergency testing / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To investigate the current situations and development requirements of emergency testing among secondary and tertiary hospitals in China.Methods:The data were collected from secondary and tertiary hospitals via online questionnaire across 31 provinces in China from February 1 to March 1, 2021. The questionnaire involves various aspects of emergency testing, including area of emergency laboratory, staffs and equipment configuration, inspection items, Turn-around time (TAT), reagents and consumables management, pre-analysis quality control, laboratory information system, critical values management and biosafety, etc.Results:A total of 2 187 questionnaires were obtained, and 1 503 valid questionnaires from 755 secondary hospitals and 748 tertiary hospitals were finally analyzed. The research data showed that daily average number of patients visiting emergency department exceeding 300 person-time in 29.41% (220/748) tertiary hospitals, but that number was less than 100 person-time in 76.69% (579/755) secondary hospitals; daily average emergency tests exceeding 5 000 was reported in 24.47% (183/748) tertiary hospitals, and less than 2 000 was reported in 93.51% (706/755) secondary hospitals; the area of emergency laboratory was less than 100 m 2 in 68.79% (238/346) tertiary hospitals with independent emergency testing laboratory; there were no fixed staffs of emergency testing in 56.02% (842/1 503) hospitals; the biochemical/immunoassay analyzer in 8.65% (130/1 503) hospitals did not have STAT position; one hundred and twenty-six hospitals (8.38%) did not have stock in and stock out record for reagents and consumes materials; the conventional statistical analysis of unqualified specimen was not carried out in 24.62% (370/1 503) hospitals; priority on emergent specimen was not set in 58.62% (881/1 503) hospitals; whole process monitoring function was not equipped in 48.64% (731/1 503) hospitals; there was no conventional communication working mechanism with clinicians on critical value in 7.32% (110/1 503) hospitals; overall, 50.23% (755/1 503) participants did not consider that biosafety risks exist in their emergency testing laboratory. Conclusions:This survey objectively presents the current situations and future development requirements of emergency testing among secondary and tertiary hospitals in China. The survey also reflects that some important process and concepts need to be improved, and extensive attention should be paid by laboratory and hospital administrator, in the area such as communication with clinician, site construction and staff configuration, administration on the priority of emergency testing, administration on the reagent and consumable materials, laboratory informatization construction, laboratory biosafety, and so on.

Pathology Informatics and Robotics Strategies for Improving Efficiency of COVID-19 Pooled Testing.

The global rise of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic resulted in an exponentially increasing demand for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 testing, which resulted in shortage of reagents worldwide. This shortage has been further worsened by screening of asymptomatic populations such as returning employees, students, and so on, as part of plans to reopen the economy. To optimize the utilization of testing reagents and human resources, pool testing of populations with low prevalence has emerged as a promising strategy. Although pooling is an effective solution to reduce the number of reagents used for testing, the process of pooling samples together and tracking them throughout the entire workflow is challenging. To be effective, samples must be tracked into each pool, pool-tested and reported individually. In this article, we address these challenges using robotics and informatics.

Decision support system through automatic algorithms and electronic request in diagnosis of anaemia for primary care patients.

INTRODUCTION: An appropriate management of anaemia laboratory tests is crucial for a correct diagnosis and treatment. A non-sequential "shotgun" approach (where every anaemia related test is ordered) causes workload and cost increases and could be potentially harmful. We have implemented a Decision Support System through our laboratory information system (LIMS) based on reflexive algorithms and automatic generation of interpretative reports specifically in diagnosis of anaemia for primary care patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: When a request contained an "Anaemia Suspicion Study" profile, more than twenty automatic reflexive rules were activated in our LIMS based upon laboratory results. These rules normally involved the addition of reflexive tests. A final report was automatically generated for each interpretation which was always reviewed for their validity by two staff pathologists. We measured the impact of this system in the ordering of most common anaemia related tests and if a proper treatment was established based on the interpretive report. RESULTS: From all the studies performed, only 12% were positive being "iron deficiency" and "anaemia of chronic disease" the most frequent causes, 62% and 17%, respectively. Proper treatment was established in 88% of these anaemic patients. Total iron, transferrin, ferritin, folate and vitamin B12 demand decreased substantially after implementation representing a cost reduction of 40% only for these five tests. CONCLUSIONS: Our system has easily improved patient outcomes, advising on individual clinical cases. We have also noticeably reduced the number of over-requested tests and laboratory costs.

Development and validation of Houston Methodist Variant Viewer version 3: updates to our application for interpretation of next-generation sequencing data.

OBJECTIVES: Informatics tools that support next-generation sequencing workflows are essential to deliver timely interpretation of somatic variants in cancer. Here, we describe significant updates to our laboratory developed bioinformatics pipelines and data management application termed Houston Methodist Variant Viewer (HMVV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected feature requests and workflow improvement suggestions from the end-users of HMVV version 1. Over 1.5 years, we iteratively implemented these features in five sequential updates to HMVV version 3. RESULTS: We improved the performance and data throughput of the application while reducing the opportunity for manual data entry errors. We enabled end-user workflows for pipeline monitoring, variant interpretation and annotation, and integration with our laboratory information system. System maintenance was improved through enhanced defect reporting, heightened data security, and improved modularity in the code and system environments. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Validation of each HMVV update was performed according to expert guidelines. We enabled an 8× reduction in the bioinformatics pipeline computation time for our longest running assay. Our molecular pathologists can interpret the assay results at least 2 days sooner than was previously possible. The application and pipeline code are publicly available at https://github.com/hmvv.

Una visión peruana sobre los servicios de patología clínica: avances y agenda pendiente / A Peruvian view about clinical pathology services: progress and pending issues

RESUMEN Los países realizan muchos esfuerzos, para poder implementar los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible, en búsqueda de la cobertura universal de la salud. Sin embargo, el acceso o la oportunidad de los servicios de Patología Clínica de alta calidad y oportunos, son necesarios para respaldar los sistemas de atención médica que tienen la tarea de lograr estos objetivos. Este acceso es más difícil de lograr en los países de bajos y medianos ingresos. En este artículo especial, se realizó un análisis de la situación global y nacional de esta problemática, en esta especialidad médica. Se identifican las cuatro barreras clave para la provisión de servicios de calidad y óptimos: recursos humanos o capacidad de la fuerza laboral insuficiente, educación y capacitación inadecuada, infraestructura y equipamiento inadecuado, y calidad, normas y acreditación insuficientes.

ABSTRACT Countries do plenty of effort in order to implement the objectives for sustainable development, aiming to achieve universal health coverage. However, access or chances for having high quality Clinical Pathology services are both necessary for supporting medical care systems if such objectives are to be achieved. This access is much more difficult to achieve in low- and medium- income countries. This paper presents an analysis of both the global and local situation in this respect. Four key barriers for delivering high quality and optimal services were identified: insufficient human resources or limited capability of the working force, inadequate education and training, inadequate infrastructure and equipment, and insufficient quality, regulations, and accreditation strategies.

Optimizing COVID-19 testing capabilities and clinical management using pathology informatics.

Coronavirus disease 2019, first reported in China in late 2019, has quickly spread across the world. The outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Here, we describe our initial efforts at the University of Florida Health for processing of large numbers of tests, streamlining data collection, and reporting data for optimizing testing capabilities and superior clinical management. Specifically, we discuss clinical and pathology informatics workflows and informatics instruments which we designed to meet the unique challenges of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing. We hope these results benefit institutions preparing to implement SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Informatics driven quality improvement in the modern histology lab.

Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) and data visualization techniques have untapped potential in anatomic pathology laboratories. Pre-built functionalities of LIS do not address all the needs of a modern histology laboratory. For instance, "Go live" is not the end of LIS customization, but just the beginning. After closely evaluating various histology lab workflows, we implemented several custom data analytics dashboards and additional LIS functionalities to monitor and address weaknesses. Herein, we present our experience in LIS and data-tracking solutions that improved trainee education, slide logistics, staffing/instrumentation lobbying, and task tracking. The latter was addressed through the creation of a novel "status board" akin to those seen in inpatient wards. These use-cases can benefit other histology laboratories.

Primary Care Providers' Preferences and Concerns Regarding Specific Visual Displays for Returning Hemoglobin A1c Test Results to Patients.

Purpose. Patient portals of electronic health record systems currently present patients with tables of laboratory test results, but visual displays can increase patient understanding and sensitivity to result variations. We sought to assess physician preferences and concerns about visual display designs as potential motivators or barriers to their implementation. Methods. In an online survey, 327 primary care physicians (>50% patient care time) recruited through the online e-community/survey research firm SERMO compared hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test results presented in table format to various visual displays (number line formats) previously tested in public samples. Half of participants also compared additional visual formats displaying target goal ranges. Outcome measures included preferred display format and whether any displays were unacceptable, would change physician workload, or would induce liability concerns. Results. Most (85%-89%) respondents preferred visual displays over tables for result communications both to patients tested for diagnosis purposes and to diagnosed patients, with a design with color-coded categories most preferred. However, for each format (including tables), 11% to 23% rated them as unacceptable. Most respondents also preferred adding goal range information (in addition to standard ranges) for diagnosed patients. While most physicians anticipated no workload changes, 19% to 32% anticipated increased physician workload while 9% to 28% anticipated decreased workload. Between 32% and 40% had at least some liability concerns. Conclusions. Most primary care physicians prefer visual displays of HbA1c test results over table formats when communicating results to patients. However, workload and liability concerns from a minority of physicians represent a barrier for adoption of such designs in clinical settings.