Before Automating The Blood Bank, Evaluate Compatibility With Existing Systems

Automation in the blood bank can be a turnaround time saver and staffing force multiplier. However, optimizing the testing workflow on the existing platforms should be the first order of business when considering new automation. There are companies that can be hired to do this, and they may present ways to optimize current analyzers with minor adjustments in the workflow process. Beginning with the end in mind, mapping the current workflow processes will provide a baseline for improving operations in any blood bank and laboratory.

Consider the laboratory structure. Is there a core laboratory concept with blood bank and microbiology located in the same workspace? Is it necessary to consider changes to the power, IT connections, and physical space in the planning process for new automation? Many laboratory structures limit the ability to share technologies and products, which creates operational gaps and challenges staffing models. Workflow process mapping will ensure that a lab leader has defined the many interconnected operations that impact the overall efficiency of a laboratory and point out key areas where automation may help make great strides in productivity. Placement of automation can allow for integration and cross training of the technical staff. A well-trained, cross-functional staff can be a great tool in generating efficiencies as well as reducing laboratorian burnout.

Read more: Before Automating The Blood Bank, Evaluate Compatibility With Existing Systems

Source: MedicalLaboratoryObserver

Evidence-based Quality Control

This article will discuss a new approach for automated hematology analyzers’ daily control limits. The discussion will cover some common issues around control of analyzers, suggest a new evidence-based approach to daily control limits, and conclude with a discussion of the benefits of this approach in the laboratory.

Some QC contexts

Too many false control rejections are the laboratory equivalent of crying wolf. Accustomed to false control rejections and not believing the problem is the analyzer, laboratorians often presume that the problem is the control and just repeat the control again. This practice often leads to multiple repetitions. It is frustrating, and difficult for operators to know when there actually is an analyzer issue.

The 1994 CAP Q-Probe study,1 completed to assess QC (Quality Control) practices and their impact on hospital laboratories, showed that 95 percent of labs repeated the same vial of control when a control run failed. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this was due to the belief that random error had occurred. (In control rules, the 13SD [Standard Deviation] means one control failure if one parameter falls outside of +/-3SD limits.) The study also found there was no benefit in using complex multi-rules or control processes for modern automated analyzers, due to the difficulty in understanding and following these complex processes. The recommendation from the study was to simplify control processes. Twenty-three years later, we have the same control issues.

Read more: Evidence-based Quality Control

Source: MedicalLaboratoryObserver

Gene Editing Could Help Tackle Cancer And Inherited Diseases

Gene editing techniques developed in the last five years could help in the battle against cancer and inherited diseases, a University of Exeter scientist says.

"There is always a risk with this kind of technology and fears about designer babies and we have started having discussions about that so we can understand the consequences and long-term risks," said Dr Westra, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute on the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "I think in the coming decades gene editing will become super important, and I think we will see it being used to cure some inherited diseases, to cure cancers, to restore sight to people by transplanting genes. I think it will definitely have massive importance."

On Tuesday, two highly influential academic bodies in the US shook up the scientific world with a report that, for the first time, acknowledged the medical potential of editing inherited genes. The National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine ruled that gene editing of the human "germline"—eggs, sperm and embryos—should not be seen as a red line in medical research.

Read more: Gene Editing Could Help Tackle Cancer And Inherited Diseases

Source: medicalxpress

Biomedical Laboratory Science: Lab Automation Video

Lab automation eliminates many of the manual steps previously necessary to process lab results. Use of bar code technology safeguards that the correct tests are run for the correct patient. The end result is that lab results are processed and reported to physicians more quickly so that proper diagnosis and treatment for their patients can be determined.

Source: North Oaks Health System

How Body Fat May Make You More Prone to This Cancer

Most of the time people try to lose a few pounds so they like that reflection in the mirror a little more, but it turns out the benefits of weight loss may extend well beyond looking better in your swimsuit.

A new study suggests that, if you’re an older woman, shedding excess pounds may also reduce your risk of developing endometrial cancer, a potentially deadly disease with which tens of thousands of women are diagnosed each year.

Read more: How Body Fat May Make You More Prone to This Cancer

A close-up image of a slim young woman with a belly fat after giving birth. Woman's torso with
some belly fat. Abdominal fat.

Source: msn.com/en-us/health/medical

Can Vitamin D Really Stop You Getting Cold And Flu?

Have you had a cold, flu or even pneumonia in the last year? You're not alone - in fact you're among 70% of the UK population.

But a new study claims that three million people could be spared the sniffles if they took vitamin D pills.

That's more than the number of people who are stopped from getting the flu after having the vaccine.

The people behind the new study want vitamin D to be added to food so that everyone gets enough.

Read more: Can Vitamin D Really Stop You Getting Cold And Flu?

Source: bbc.co.uk/newsbeat

The Role of Clinical Informatics in Patient Care and Resource Management.

The clinical laboratory today is under increasing pressure to perform more efficiently in light of growing healthcare demands. Encumbered by heavier workloads, increased documentation requirements, and expanded training needs, laboratories are looking for solutions to help streamline workflow and inform decisions for more effective care. Integrated delivery networks (IDNs) face the added burden of tracking the performance of individual laboratories while standardizing processes throughout the network at large. This is while responding to the strain caused by hospital consolidations, population health management initiatives, and falling Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) reimbursement rates.

As healthcare has evolved to create these new challenges, the industry has responded. Leading innovators have worked to develop clinical IT solutions that complement the laboratory’s information system (LIS). These middleware and business analytics solutions can be used to assess and enhance capacity and efficiency, improve and monitor turnaround time (TAT), maximize staff resourcing, track specimens to reduce identification errors and improve issue management, and optimize test utilization.

Read more: The Role of Clinical Informatics in Patient Care and Resource Management.

Source: MedicalLaboratoryObserver

Proper Patient Preparation, Specimen Collection, and Sample Handling are Critical to Quality Care

Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO), as the saying goes. This adage has been applied in a universal manner in addressing human errors. It certainly applies to establishing laboratory procedures that ensure care in managing the pre-analytical phase of laboratory testing. Sixty years ago, many common laboratory tests were performed manually, and thus were prone to inaccuracy and analytical mistakes. Today’s advanced technology places laboratory science in a highly automated and quality-focused environment that ensures accurate testing processes.

Total Testing Process (TTP)

Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. The laboratory’s contribution to this major healthcare concern is only 0.33 percent.1 While this number appears small, laboratory errors do occur, not always resulting is death, but nevertheless having an important impact on patient care. As clinical laboratory scientists, we must make every effort to produce accurate test results.

Read more: Proper Patient Preparation, Specimen Collection, and Sample Handling are Critical to Quality Care

Source: MedicalLaboratoryObserver

Blood Tests for Prion Disease.

Two studies describe methods for detecting these misfolded proteins in human blood samples.

Thousands of Europeans may be asymptomatic carriers of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a fatal prion disease that is the human variant of Mad Cow disease. But now, two studies published December 21 in Science Translational Medicine describe new methods for detecting even latent vCJD, which could make blood transfusions safer and help early detection and treatment of the disease.

The blood tests accurately diagnosed 32 patients between the two studies, distinguishing those with the disease from 391 healthy controls. In both cases, the tests were 100 percent sensitive and 100 percent specific and, in one of the studies, the test managed to identify vCJD prion particles in a blood donation more than a year before the onset of symptoms—a first for prion disease detection.

Read more: Blood Tests for Prion Disease.

Source: TheScientist

The Growing Impact of Cardiac Biomarkers in Clinical Chemistry.

Clinical chemistry measurements and calculations take into account an expansive set of analytes that reflect cardiac, liver, kidney, and other biological functions. Several of these discrete analytes are considered biomarkers, defined by Strimbu and Tavel as “a broad subcategory of medical signs [that are] objective indications of medical state observed from outside the patient which can be measured accurately and reproducibly.” In the case of cardiac biomarkers, the most common analytes are creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and troponin (TNI). There are pros and cons to using these common chemistry tests as definitive cardiac biomarkers. However, other chemistry analytes and even some non-laboratory tests have been identified as potential cardiac biomarkers. Providing clinicians with accurate and thorough testing is important in contributing to diagnosis and ultimately to positive patient outcomes.

Read more: The Growing Impact of Cardiac Biomarkers in Clinical Chemistry.

Source: MedicalLaboratoryObserver