A critical value is one that represents a pathophysiological state at such variance with normal as to be life-threatening unless something is done immediately, and for which some corrective action could be taken.

WDL has procedures for immediate notification to the provider or other member of the patient’s care team. Phone notification includes two unique patient identifiers (name and medical record number or date of birth), critical value (test and test result) and name of person calling the result. Read-back of the information provided is required and documented.

Download the Critical Values List