Diagnostic laboratories in Asia Pacific region: Investigation on quality characteristics and time of reporting

Saleem

Wong³

2021

Ann Clin Biochem

Background Reporting critical results in a timely manner is a crucial role of clinical laboratories. Traditionally, these results were reported using the phone or fax system. However, there are now other modes of communication for this reporting. Quality improvement in any organization is driven by detection of errors and benchmarking against peers. In the case of critical result reporting, there are few current widely used Benchmarking schemes. Methods The Roche Clinical Chemistry Benchmarking Survey in 2019 added questions about critical result reporting including the mode of communication and turnaround time key performance index. This survey includes over 1100 laboratories from 20 countries. Results The survey revealed a range of communication strategies with phone calls still the commonest followed by email. The key performance index for most laboratories was less than 10 min. Conclusion Benchmarking can provide key information for quality improvement activities, particularly pre- and postanalytical.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turnaround times and modes of reporting critical results in Asian laboratories

Saleem

Wong³

2021

Ann Clin Biochem

“…It was designed to collect information on three key areas of laboratory practice (quality, speed and cost) with a focus on, but not limited to, Clinical Chemistry and Immunoassay testing. 14 The data collected is quite granular and provides information in each of the key areas (Table 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philippines Diagnostic Pathology Laboratory Benchmarking

Habijanic²,

Mah³

et al. 2019

Phil Journal Path

Introduction.To ensure continuous quality improvement, laboratories need to obtain data about best practice from peers. Data about analytical EQA is available but far less is available about other important aspects of laboratory performance. There is a Roche Diagnostics Survey of laboratories which provides benchmarking in key areas of laboratory performance.Methodology. The Roche Diagnostics Survey included 1058 laboratories from 14 countries in the Asia Pacific Region with both developing and developed nations. The data were collected in 2017 but the survey has been collecting data each second year since 2011. Data was collected in the areas of quality, speed and cost.Results. The results for the Philippines was compared with other countries in the Asia Pacific Region. Broadly it was found that 42% of all laboratories in the Region were accredited to ISO 15189 or ISO 9001 and that 50% of laboratories were in an External Quality Assurance (EQA) program. Compared to other countries in the survey, the Philippines laboratories had fewer sites with ISO 15189 and with Lean Six Sigma improvement deployment. There are six laboratories in the Philippines that are accredited to ISO 15189. There was a greater emphasis on customer satisfaction related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as turnaround time monitoring, cost reduction and employee productivity. Conclusions.Benchmarking can highlight the differences in the apparent quality of laboratory services compared to their peers and may lead to improvement. The benchmarking comparison has identified opportunities for Philippine laboratories to improve including obtaining ISO 15189 accreditation, implementing laboratory information systems and concentrating on Lean practices to improve productivity. The Roche scheme provides an ongoing (growing) large sample of benchmarks that can be used by participants to improve their performance and the performance of individual countries.

“…Thus other surrogate activities are necessary in this situation. We have previously reported on a long term survey which sought to provide information to laboratories on quality indicators in the broad areas of quality, cost and turnaround time [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A vital component to these improvements in the capacity to deliver better medical diagnosis and treatment to vast populations is the development of laboratory medicine. To determine the 'State of the Art' and monitor progress, Roche Diagnostics started to survey laboratories in the APAC region from 2011 [11]. The questionnaires were designed to find out information on three key areas of laboratory practice with a focus on, but not limited to, Clinical Chemistry and Immunology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnostic Laboratories in India: Investigating Quality Characteristics, Productivity and Time of Reporting

Gutscher²,

Chin³

2017

Ind J Clin Biochem

Self Cite

This is the result of a Survey of diagnostics laboratories in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with perspectives on India, investigating the three key aspects that are central to the success of a laboratory: quality, cost and speed. This Survey provides a comparison in selected performance indicators in a large number of diagnostic laboratories in a broad range of countries in the APAC region. The Survey provides data on some key performance characteristics such as quality improvement activities, staff productivity and Turnaround Time (TAT). This Survey also demonstrates in India the common issues facing all the laboratories surveyed but also common solutions using a Quality Systems approach which involves Accreditation, customer responsiveness, greater use of IT, automation and Lean principles. Indian laboratories reported less automation and fewer laboratories have Laboratory Information Systems. The productivity by various measures in Indian laboratories was less than in other APAC laboratories. TAT was more commonly monitored in the Indian specimens though there were fewer laboratories compared with the APAC specimens where there were separate TATs for Short Turnaround Time and Routine specimens.