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Overview
The technology and architecture of the MediCopia system has been leveraged to produce the nation’s leading specimen collection application to serve the needs of the laboratory, nursing, and respiratory therapy. By encompassing several different departments, MediCopia empowers caregivers with collective responsibility to make a difference in the quality of service they provide. Implementing common information technology across several departments breaks down barriers between them. Employees in the laboratory and nursing will work more effectively as a team, enhancing communication, improving the quality of data, standardizing procedures, and improving patient care.
Specimen Collection
The MediCopia Specimen Collection System distributes specimen collection orders in real-time to caregivers based upon the location of the patient, the type of order, and the skill level of the caregivers. When physicians issue orders for laboratory tests to diagnose patients, and those orders are entered into the hospital information system, the orders are sent to MediCopia, and the MediCopia Specimen Collection System routes the orders to the appropriate caregivers so that the specimens can be collected and the laboratory tests can be completed.
Standard LIS Interface
By using standard HL7 interfaces with laboratory information systems, the MediCopia Specimen Collection System receives new specimen collection orders as laboratory test requests are initiated, and updates host systems with the disposition of those orders when caregivers collect the specimens. Interfaces to the MediCopia Specimen Collection System have been deployed at sites using all the major laboratory information systems, including the following:
- Cerner LIS
- GE Centricity LIS
- HBOC LIS
- Meditech LIS
- Sunquest LIS
- SCC (Soft) LIS
- Various Homegrown LIS’s
Order Distribution
As the LIS sends specimen collection requests to the MediCopia Specimen Collection System, MediCopia distributes those orders to caregivers based upon the location of the patient and the type of order. High priority orders, such as stats, issue alerts to caregivers so that these orders can be prioritized. MediCopia tracks every user and determines which orders are relevant for the particular caregiver. MediCopia can issue alerts in advance of timed orders or for orders that are past due. Alerts can be escalated to supervisors when urgent orders remain unprocessed for extended periods of time, thereby preventing situations where results of important laboratory tests are not available to physicians making urgent decisions about patient care. MediCopia provides two forms of alerts – instant messages to mobile client computers and text messages to pagers. The redundant delivery of messages for urgent orders provides insurance against the possibility that the collection and test results of urgent orders will be delayed.
Order Review
As specimen collection orders are distributed to mobile computers, caregivers review those orders to prioritize their work. The MediCopia Specimen Collection System provides detailed information about each order, including the order priority, the scheduled collection time, the specimens to be collected, the containers to be used for those specimens, and the tests that will be run on those specimens. Caregivers can also review the history of individual orders as well as the history of all orders for any patient.
Positive Patient Identification - PPID
A critical step in the specimen collection process is positive identification of the patient to eliminate the possibility of drawing specimens from the wrong patient. Extensive research has been performed to document the following specimen labeling error rates: approximately 1 in 2000 specimens are wrong-blood-in-tube (John’s blood with Joe’s label), and approximately 1 in 200 specimens are mislabeled (specimens that do not contain a label, or contain a label that bears incomplete information). For a laboratory that processes 1 million specimen per year, this translates into annual error rates of approximately 500 specimens (more than 1 per day) with the wrong-blood-in-tube, and approximately 5,000 that likely will need to be re-collected. The MediCopia Specimen Collection System requires the caregiver to properly identify the patient prior to drawing specimens by simply scanning a barcode on the patient’s wristband, thereby preventing these specimen labeling errors, avoiding the possibility of a sentinel event caused by WBIT and eliminating the cost of re-collects.
Specimen Collection and Labeling
After positively identifying the patient, caregivers follow standard medical procedures to safely and properly collect specimens. The MediCopia Specimen Collection System permits caregivers to print specimen labels at the bedside. These labels are ‘instrument ready’ because they contain the all of the information required for processing in the laboratory, including a barcode. In addition, the labels contain the date and time of collection as well as the identity of the caregiver who collected the specimen – all printed in legible type.
Specimen Routing and Receiving
Once the specimens are properly labeled, they are routed to the laboratory for analysis. The MediCopia Specimen Collection System automatically updates the LIS with the collection information (date and time of collection as well as the identity of the caregiver who collected the specimen). Since this information does not have to be entered when specimens are received, the process of receiving the specimens in the laboratory can be streamlined. For those labs that have automation, the specimens are merely placed on the automation line. Those labs that do not have automation merely scan the specimens to record the receive time, and send the specimens through the laboratory for analysis.
Transaction Reports
The MediCopia Specimen Collection System provides a variety of standard reports to analyze turn-around-times, draws by caregiver, not performed reasons, and other details of specimen collection. Both nurse managers and lab management can analyze the specimen collection process and monitor activity in real-time.
Request Information
The MediCopia Specimen Collection System is the market leader by virtue of features and functionality that far exceed those available with other specimen collection systems. Lattice has deployed the MediCopia Specimen Collection System at hospitals ranging from 100 beds to 1000 beds. Contact Lattice today to obtain further information or to schedule a demonstration. Don’t short-change your laboratory by failing to understand the advanced feature set uniquely provided by Lattice.
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