Required section · Section 5 of 6

Reconstruct the journey and choose the containment

Reconstructing the path of a broken result means putting the handoffs of the total testing process in the order they actually happened for this case, so the earliest failed control can be identified before any later step is blamed instead. The ordering exercise below uses the same case: place the events in sequence, then confirm which one is the earliest point where the specimen's reliability was already in question.

Identifying the earliest failed control is only half of the decision. A technologist also has to choose a defensible next action that fits the evidence: not a guess at what the true potassium might be, and not silence while a critical-range number sits unreviewed. Apply the phase map from the mental-model section to this specific case, and choose the bounded action that matches CLIA's requirements for specimen acceptability, critical-value alerting, and corrected reporting rather than a workaround.

A correct answer here names where in the path the problem first became visible and selects the next action that is supported by the evidence rather than a guess at a systemic fix the case does not support.

Six cards in a two by three grid labeled ordering, collection, transport, receipt, analysis, and reporting, each naming an owner, a record, and an identification check, connected by arrows showing the sequence. — Figure 1Six handoff cards showing the owner, record, and identification check at each stage from ordering through reporting.

Ordering exercise

Place these events from the guided case in the order they occurred, from earliest to latest.

1. Delta check reviewed

Technologist finds the prior potassium of 4.1 mmol/L and begins the review prompted by the difference.
2. Result reported

Analyzer reports potassium 6.7 mmol/L with a high hemolysis index flag.
3. Order placed

Basic metabolic panel ordered for the patient.
4. Specimen received

Tube logged in at the laboratory with receipt time documented.
5. Specimen collected

Patient positively identified and serum separator tube drawn and labeled at the bedside.

Knowledge checks

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Knowledge check 1

In the guided case, what is the earliest visible failed control?

Choose one option.

The specimen itself, shown by the high hemolysis index first detected at receipt and confirmed in the result

The analyzer, because it produced a potassium value outside the reference interval

The delta check, because it was not triggered until two minutes after the result was released

Knowledge check 2

Which actions are defensible next steps once the hemolyzed, high-potassium result is identified as a specimen concern? Select all that apply.

Choose at least 2 options.

Hold the result, document the specimen finding, and request a promptly collected replacement per local policy

If the value meets the laboratory's critical-value criteria, communicate it through the approved alert path and document recipient, time, and acknowledgment

Apply a standard correction factor to the potassium value and release the adjusted number

Hold the result and take no further action or communication until the next scheduled specimen is drawn

Section status

Finish this section

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The module finishes after every required section is marked done and every check in those sections is correct.