Academy Exchange

Has anyone been able to figure out if there is a way for EPIC to not flag the VL results in bold red if it is detected but not quantifiable? Our lab tells us that is it not possible to remove the flag based on the VL level and if they remove it completely it would affect those results with quantifiable VL. 

Many of our patients have raised concerns about how the bold red characters create a lot of anxiety despite the fact that it is below level of quantification.

We've spent a great deal of time explaining the cutoffs for what's considered undetectable per PARTNERS trial, but there is still a lot of discontent about the way this comes up in their results. 

 Thanks for your thoughts 

Dr. Serrano - thank you for posting this question. I wish I had a solution - just wanted to respond and say that we are also struggling with this reporting issue here at University of Utah, and our lab has repeatedly said there is nothing we can do about it. Our providers field multiple anxious queries per week about this issue and it is a source of frustration for all involved - it is completely unnecessary and often leads to repeating an expensive assay.  Our lab states that this reporting is mandated by the manufacturers of the assay and they are unable to alter it or hide part of it... it sounds like you may be getting a similar answer.  I wonder if there is a way to communicate with the assay manufacturer and have them alter their reporting requirements?  Best regards,  Adam Spivak