Digital laboratory and its role in immediate treatment and diagnosis

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Microbioz India May 2017 Issue


• Date: 29 May,2017

There is the need for a change of scale for laboratory services for the Laboratory Modernization Programme. Although the initial focus was on internal efficiencies within the test production process, the same logic applies to innovative ways of using laboratory services. Indeed a focus solely on local test production misses opportunities for laboratory services to work in different ways to enhance care pathways, enable patients to take control of their chronic disorders and save resources outside the laboratory and across health economies.rn

Where changes such as patient access to the results of their blood tests have been introduced, the main benefit has been in a reduction in the number of visits required by patients – the use of this innovation by Kaiser Permanente is a widely recognized example.

Using laboratory services differently must be based on improving quality of care as well as increasing efficiency. Laboratory underpins the majority of clinical interactions and clinical value chains can only be unlocked if laboratory services are coordinated in concert with clinical services. The gains from digitization described in this report accrue when pathways are joined up across care settings and clinical networks. Quality is a major part of the equation in achieving value. Technology innovation such as standardization of laboratory reporting through the use of the National Laboratory Medicine Catalogue, digital techniques in laboratory and genetics will be essential to achieve quality improvement.

The benefits of digital laboratory delivered include:

1. The People feel more in control of their health through better access to test results
2. Multi-disciplinary teams having timely information and specialist advice to enable better treatment planning
3. Better workflows between wards and labs to improve turnaround times and improve patient care
4. Better identification and management of samples to enhance patient convenience and safety and reduce    the cost impact of re-testing

The challenge now is for commissioners and providers to understand how laboratory benefits service delivery, and then drive change and enable digital innovation in laboratory to help realize wider, longer-term strategic objectives.

The need for transformation in models of delivery, focusing on producing great value care with the best outcomes for patients, has never been greater. Early diagnosis to prevent premature mortality, care of long term conditions, and acute care are all areas in which pathology has an enormous role to play, not only in supporting clinical teams, helping design pathways, and making results visible and interpretable for patients, but also in innovation to make the pathways faster and better.

Pathology is leading the way in the use of digital techn