Automation For Assisting Clinicians In Laboratories

Automation has become a prominent part of laboratory medicine due to the rising usage of automation in health care to alleviate heavy workloads and enhance workflows.

Fremont, CA: As laboratory procedures got more sophisticated and specialized, with a growing emphasis on the importance of laboratory results, the number of orders and the variety of test menus rose. Generally, automation removes monotonous, time-consuming chores. Automatization enhances laboratory ordering, testing, and reporting. This is achieved by higher throughput, higher production rates, enhanced productivity, effective use of reagents and supplies, and uniformity, reducing outliers and errors and improving turnaround times (TAT). Overall, automation decreases production costs and improves patient care while making the workplace safer for employees.

Is automation affecting the laboratory staff?

The primary objective of automation is to improve productivity and dependability and, ostensibly, minimize the need for additional workers. It has been observed that automation reduces mistake rates by more than 70 percent and reduces staff time per specimen collection by 10 percent.

Healthcare is still patient care, with at least 70 percent of today's medical decisions depending on the clinical laboratory. Laboratory professionals are medical laboratory scientists, technologists, and technicians who contribute to the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of disease by executing and managing a large number of highly controlled laboratory testing standards.

Laboratorians are the most significant resource in the laboratory

While automation is an unavoidable requirement for improving laboratory workload and productivity, that is, getting more done in less time with less human intervention—human labor remains the most valuable resource.

Although there are laboratory specialists skilled in manual processes requiring manual skills, repetitive activities are not their forte. Working smarter, not harder, is supported by advanced technology, but the human element is indispensable in the clinical laboratory. Automation is another tool for assisting laboratory workers with high-volume tasks by limiting behavioral input; yet, it can never completely replace cognitive knowledge.