G.L. Streun, A.E. Steuer, S.N. Poetzsch, et al. show that a random forest strategy combined with metabolomics enables an effective response to emerging synthetic cannabinoids. Biomarkers identified by this approach may also be integrated in routine screening methods.

This month’s Artery Club paper, Evaluation of Preanalytical Point-of-Care Testing Errors and Their Impact on Productivity in the Emergency Department in the United States, evaluates records of the cartridge-based i-STAT blood analyzer used at the emergency department of an academic hospital. What is your takeaway from the paper?

Clinical laboratorians rely heavily on metrics derived from laboratory data to assure the best quality of laboratory results delivered to support patient care.