Barnafi Krause Laboratory (BKLAB)
Meeting the Need for High-Complexity Clinical Examinations

Barnafi Krause Laboratory (BKLAB) is dedicated to meeting the need for high-complexity clinical examinations for laboratories, clinics, and hospitals in Latin America. It focuses on analyses that are difficult or costly to implement, exclusively centered on referrals.

In pursuit of excellent resources, BKLAB focuses on sourcing high-quality suppliers abroad, leading to significant alliances and technological exchanges. This has positioned the company as the only private clinical laboratory in Chile investing in cutting-edge technologies to develop techniques at the global forefront, such as mass spectrometry, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR-RT), and sequencing (NGS). Additionally, BKLAB is the only laboratory in Chile with ISO 9001:2015, NCh ISO 15.189 certification, and MINSAL (Chile´s national health Ministry) accreditation, ensuring the highest quality standards in their analyses and tests.

“It has been the policy of the BKLAB family to provide personalized attention to each client,” says Esteban Barnafi, the technical director and associate of BKLAB. “For each of them, we maintain direct and efficient communication, which allows us to identify their specific needs and contribute to their opportunities for improvement.”

Quality is a commitment for BKLAB. It is constantly developing new procedures to maintain a high level of satisfaction for its customers, medical staff, and patients.

This policy supports the implementation of new tests and assays that, due to their high cost or complexity, are challenging to access in the local market, contributing significantly to the country’s diagnostic management and establishing the company as a reference in the healthcare sector. BKLAB has achieved a well-organized and strategically planned growth trajectory, resulting in the establishment of expansive facilities covering over 2,000 sq. m. These facilities have been designed to cater to the unique requirements of each project, allowing for customized and specialized implementations. Moreover, BKLAB has successfully maintained a flexible growth capacity to adapt to evolving demands and opportunities in the market.

During the 40 years of BKLAB’s existence, it has designed and improved a system that guarantees the best method of sample transportation, combining speed and efficiency in delivery. The transportation material is provided by the company, depending on the type of analysis requested. This allows for uniformity and optimal conditions for their transfer while also complying with existing legal regulations. A professional and qualified team of laboratory assistants receives the samples, conducting a physical analysis of them (temperature conditions, light protection, turbidity and jaundice), determining their optimal condition for analysis and subsequent processing if they are suitable for the procedure.

One of the most remarkable instances of teamwork with BKLAB’s clients occurred 20 years ago when they faced the challenge of eliminating the need for physical paper reports, which had a tendency to lead to errors during the transcription of results into the requesting laboratory’s LIS. During those years, the first modem telephony systems were being tested, and it was this technology that allowed BKLAB to transmit results directly from its LIS to the requesting laboratory’s system for the first time.

What sets BKLAB apart is its response time and the quality of the results. Being able to provide high-complexity examinations that are accessible to the entire country has been one of the most significant achievements of the BKLAB team. Likewise, direct communication with each of its clients is another factor that distinguishes the company. This has been possible because BKLAB’s highly committed team understands that behind each sample, there is a person waiting for a solution to their condition.