AUTOMATED LABORATORY

ST. EDWARD MERCY FIRST IN ARKANSAS TO INSTALL BAYER’S ADVIA® WORKCELL MODULAR AUTOMATION SYSTEM

St. Edward Mercy Medical Center’s Laboratory was the first in Arkansas to install the ADVIA® WorkCell Modular Automation System from Bayer Diagnostics, the first high-throughput workstation that integrates clinical chemistry and immunodiagnostics.

Larry W. Pearce, M.D., St. Edward Mercy Vice President –Medical Affairs, is thrilled about the system’s efficiency. “This new technology has enabled our lab to increase its capacity 140 percent. We increased our ability to perform over 100 different kinds of lab tests, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ”He adds that patients may experience a quicker turn-around-time for their lab results.

The ADVIA WorkCell employs a unique sample handling process that integrates two proven, highly regarded systems - the ADVIA Centaur immunoassay system and the ADVIA 1650 chemistry system - to efficiently route and manage patient samples. Prior to the implementation of the ADVIA WorkCell system, the laboratory used six different analyzers to perform this testing. Additionally, all sample tubes were tracked manually. The ADVIA WorkCell integrates all of this testing in one workstation and allows each patient sample to be tracked at all times even after processing.

The ADVIA WorkCell manages each patient sample - which can be blood, urine, spinal fluid or other body fluids –individually by automatically recognizing where the sample needs to go and then routing it for optimal efficiency. Now, when a patient’s sample is received in the laboratory, the medical technologist simply assigns the sample tube a bar code and enters the patient’s corresponding information into a computer. The sample is then placed into the ADVIA WorkCell’s sample manager, where an automated sample transportation system carries the sample tube for bar code reading and automatically routes the sample to the ADVIA Centaur and ADVIA 1650 systems for testing. The sample is then returned to the sample manager via the track and archived for storage. The ADVIA WorkCell uploads the test results directly to the hospital’s computer system for immediate review by physicians and other clinicians.