What's New for MGH Inpatient eMAR & Order Entry?

October 23 & November 1, 2014—Change in Units for Reporting Plasma Magnesium and Urine Creatinine

To standardize MGH results with results of other Partners institutions, MGH laboratories is changing the units for reporting results for plasma magnesium and urine creatinine. Laboratories throughout the Partners enterprise are adopting the Sunquest laboratory information system in preparation for eCare.

Presentation: Changes to units for Magnesium and Urine Creatinine

Table: Equivalent Magnesium Concentrations mEq/L vs. mg/dl (PDF)

Key features:

Plasma magnesium concentrations will be reported in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) starting Sunday, November 2nd.
The reference range for magnesium after the change: 1.7 - 2.4 mg/dL, with critical value thresholds of less than 1.2 mg/dL or greater than 5.9 mg/dL.
Urine creatinine concentrations will be reported in mg/dL (previously mg/ml). Note: plasma creatinine is reported in mg/dl and will not change.
New orders for magnesium electrolyte replacement will be based upon the new mg/dL units.
On Thursday, October 23rd, magnesium electrolyte replacement orders on templates will include administration instructions based on values of both mg/dL (the new units) and mEq/L (the previous units).
For 6 months following the conversion to mg/dL, all results with the new units will have a comment appended regarding the change.

Attention ordering providers:

If you have patients with active orders for magnesium electrolyte replacement to be administered as needed, based on the patient's plasma magnesium result, please discontinue the existing order. Write a new order so the PRN reason includes the plasma magnesium result in mg/dL.
After the conversion to the new units, the POE team will generate a report to identify any outstanding magnesium electrolyte replacement orders that were not re-written using the new units.