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Robotic Laboratory in a Community Hospital Enhances Hepatitis Turnaround
Time
Denise Uettwiller-Geiger, Judith Gray, and Judith Mignone John T.
Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson, New York
In 2001, J.T. Mather Memorial Hospital became the first community hospital
to install a robotic laboratory system in the Northeast. The system fully
automates and integrates the processes of preparation, analysis, and storage of
laboratory specimens. Because the robotic system is not subject to human
interruption, turnaround time is greatly reduced. It is a hands-free system,
which eliminates repetitive, frustrating tasks, removes potential patient
errors and improves overall the quality of work and safety for the laboratory
staff. The robotic system coupled with a random access immunoassay testing
platform, allows automated hepatitis testing to be performed in real time,
eliminating labor intensive bead technology for antibody to hepatitis B antigen
(aHBs), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), confirmatory HbsAg, and antibody
to HCV (Anti-HCV).
Rapid turnaround time for hepatitis tests, available in less than one hour,
enables healthcare providers to avoid delays in every aspect of patient care
including: initial assessment, diagnosis and treatment. This is
especially evident when providing testing to determine whether newborn infants
need to receive hepatitis vaccine and immune globulin. Infants born either to
mothers who are infected or of unknown status must be vaccinated within 24
hours for full term neonates, or 12 hours if they are born premature.
Additionally, faster turnaround time translates to faster results for
healthcare workers who face exposure to hepatitis due to occupational needle
sticks, allowing treatment decisions to be made within the prophylactic window.
At J.T. Mather, we have reduced hepatitis testing turnaround time, on average
by 70 percent. Workflow mapping revealed a 50 percent reduction in the
number of process steps.
Automation virtually eliminates errors with primary tubes and computer
generated bar code labels. This allows hepatitis test results to be produced,
integrated, shared and stored bi-directionally between the laboratory
information system (LIS) and the hospital information system (HIS). Achieved
outcomes include: eliminated patient errors, improved efficiency, increased
productivity, decreased turnaround time, enhanced service levels, reduced labor
costs, reduction of testing instruments, and a simplified supply chain process.
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