Alinity ci at the forefront of technological advances CHOOSE TRANSFORMATION The Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, is the region’s largest specialized medical facility, with a focus on providing high quality healthcare services, teaching students from the Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum, and performing research across different medical disciplines. It has 940 beds spread across 26 departments and units, complemented by seven diagnostic divisions and specialist outpatient clinics, and covers a large catchment area with a population of half a million. Typically, the hospital admits around 37,000 patients a year and undertakes 170,000 specialist consultations. As a university teaching hospital, the Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1 strives to remain at the forefront of medical advances. Its facilities include a well-equipped central laboratory with three Abbott platforms – covering over 75 % of the biochemistry and immunochemistry tests performed in the laboratory – delivering high quality results for improved patient management, and enabling specialized research in fields such as cardiology, oncology and toxicology. The laboratory performs over one and a half million tests a year across a wide range of clinical areas, with samples coming from both inpatients – accounting for approximately 70 % of samples – and outpatients. DIAGNOSTICS CASE STUDY The laboratory has relied on Abbott’s ARCHITECT ci8200 and ARCHITECT i1000SR analyzers for clinical chemistry and immunochemistry testing for over 15 years, valuing the accuracy of results and the wide panel of tests available, as well as the cost effectiveness in relation to the results produced. Following the launch of Abbott’s Alinity ci-series, the hospital chose to upgrade its instruments to maintain access to the latest technological advances, enhance throughput and deliver an even better service.
Transcript
Alinity ci at the forefront of technological advances
CHOOSE TRANSFORMATION
The Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, is the region’s largest specialized medical facility, with a focus on providing high quality healthcare services, teaching students from the Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum, and performing research across different medical disciplines. It has 940 beds spread across 26 departments and units, complemented by seven diagnostic divisions and specialist outpatient clinics, and covers a large catchment area with a population of half a million. Typically, the hospital admits around 37,000 patients a year and undertakes 170,000 specialist consultations.
As a university teaching hospital, the Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1 strives to remain at the forefront of medical advances. Its facilities include a well-equipped central laboratory with three Abbott platforms – covering over 75 % of the biochemistry and immunochemistry tests performed in the laboratory – delivering high quality results for improved patient management, and enabling specialized research in fields such as cardiology, oncology and toxicology. The laboratory performs over one and a half million tests a year across a wide range of clinical areas, with samples coming from both inpatients – accounting for approximately 70 % of samples – and outpatients.
D I A G N O S T I C S
CASE STUDY
The laboratory has relied on Abbott’s ARCHITECT ci8200 and ARCHITECT i1000SR analyzers for clinical chemistry and immunochemistry testing for over 15 years, valuing the accuracy of results and the wide panel of tests available, as well as the cost effectiveness in relation to the results produced. Following the launch of Abbott’s Alinity ci-series, the hospital chose to upgrade its instruments to maintain access to the latest technological advances, enhance throughput and deliver an even better service.
“It is early days, but we have already seen an improvement in throughput of 13 % for our clinical chemistry assays and 37 % for immunoassays. We expect this to improve even more as we implement additional assays and the latest software upgrade.”
Dr n. med. Magdalena Krintus, Associate Professor, Dept. of Laboratory Medicine Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University
*The improvement was obtained running 11 immunoassays and 12 clinical chemistry assays (Table 1), using software version 2.0.
Magdalena Krintus, an Associate Professor at the Department of Laboratory Medicine Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, and Grazyna Sypniewska, Professor and Chair of the Department, discuss the introduction of the Alinity ci analyzer into the laboratory.
KEEPING AHEAD OF THE GAMEAs a university teaching hospital, the Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1 makes every effort to remain at the forefront of medical advances, keeping up to date with the latest laboratory innovations.
Grazyna: “We are always keen to adopt the latest technology, and so decided to invest in the Alinity ci analyzer. It is the ideal size for our laboratory, with a 40 % smaller footprint than our older systems and, from a quality point of view, shows the excellent linearity, accuracy and precision that is essential for our work.”
ENHANCED TURNAROUND TIMES AND SAMPLE THROUGHPUTIn today’s fast-paced world, laboratories face the continual challenge of growing sample numbers and demanding turnaround times, and so Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1 upgraded to Abbott’s Alinity ci analyzer to enhance turnaround times and throughput.
Magdalena: “The installation of the Alinity ci analyzer ensures that we have access to the most up to date equipment available. Currently, we are in the process of transferring our assays to the new system, which is running at only a fraction of its full capacity at the moment (Table 1). It is early days, but we have already seen an improvement in throughput of 13 % for our clinical chemistry assays and 37 % for immunoassays*. We expect this to improve even more as we implement additional assays and the latest software upgrade.”
Table 1: The assays currently running on the Alinity analyzers.
Immunoassay
CEA
Hs-Tnl
TSH
Free T3
Free T4
AFP
Anti-HCV
HBsAg
Anti-HBc
βhCG
HIV Ag/Ab
Clinical chemistryICT
AST
Total protein
Alkaline phosphatase
ALT
Amylase
Urea
Bilirubin – total
Calcium
CK
Creatinine – crea
Glucose
Grazyna: “We’re already saving around 40 minutes a day – more than four and a half hours a week per FTE – simply because we do not need to pause the system to load and replenish reagents and consumables. In addition, we are benefitting from extended calibration periods compared to other systems, gaining an extra three days between calibrations. This will save a considerable amount of time over the course of the year and, most importantly of all, is more cost effective.”
“It is the ideal size for our laboratory, with a 40 % smaller footprint than our older systems and, from a quality point of view, shows the excellent linearity, accuracy and precision that is essential for our work.”
“We save around 40 minutes a day – more than four and a half hours a week per FTE – simply because we do not need to pause the system to load and replenish reagents and consumables.”
Grazyna Sypniewska, Professor and Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University
Grazyna Sypniewska, Professor and Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University
CHOOSE TRANSFORMATION
ESSENTIAL ACCURACY AND PRECISIONReliable, consistent, high quality results depend on the use of accurate, precise analyzers, such as the Alinity ci-series.
Grazyna: “The laboratory employs 12 junior and senior assistants and more than 20 technicians, and performs more than 130 different tests, including biochemistry, immunochemistry, coagulation, hematology and urine analysis. Staff training plays a crucial role in ensuring high quality results, and the availability of a manual written in Polish is a big advantage.”
Magdalena: “We greatly appreciate the training Abbott gave to users of the new analyzer. As familiarity with the new system grows, so does our confidence in it being the successor to our existing analyzers, strengthened by the thorough training program provided.”
ALL THE SUPPORT YOU NEEDHigh quality analyzers are just one part of the puzzle. Close collaboration between the laboratory and the supplier is the key to smooth diagnostic workflows.
Magdalena: “We very much appreciate the close cooperation of Abbott’s customer service team, including remote technical support via AbbottLink, which enables the company’s engineers to run diagnostics and to intervene before any problems arise.”
A PARTNER YOU CAN RELY ONA good working relationship between the laboratory and the supplier is the foundation for success.
Magdalena: “We have a great relationship with Abbott at all levels, working in close association both in the context of routine laboratory work and the development of scientific research. Partnering with Abbott contributes enormously to the smooth operation of our processes and the efficiency of the services we offer in routine work, in combination with the various instruments employed in our laboratory. The company not only helps to maintain and improve our workflows, but also our throughput.”
About Abbott Abbott is a global healthcare company devoted to improving life through the development of products and technologies that span the breadth of healthcare. With a portfolio of leading, science-based offerings in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals, Abbott serves people in more than 150 countries and employs approximately 99,000 people. ARCHITECT, Alinity ci-series, AbbottLink and Choose Transformation are trademarks of Abbott Laboratories in various jurisdictions. Refer to respective Operations Manuals on corelaboratory.abbott for operational precautions, limitations and hazards.
“The upgrade has clearly improved both turnaround times and sample throughput for our laboratory services, as well as the quality of the results that we deliver.”
“We are benefitting from extended calibration periods compared to other systems, gaining an extra three days between calibrations.”
Dr n. med. Magdalena Krintus,Associate Professor, Dept. of Laboratory Medicine Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University
Grazyna Sypniewska, Professor and Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University
