Significance of Performing Sample Management for Medical Testing Labs

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There is a remarkable improvement in the
healthcare industry over years, and as the
awareness of self-health among the public is
rising every day, healthcare services are
witnessing high demand from time to time. One
such requirement is the services from medical
diagnostic labs. Laboratories, Pathology, or
Diagnostic, take in orders from doctors of
various specialties, or even self-orders from the
common public every day, and are obligated to
arrive at highly reliable results every time, and
it is important that they maintain rapport with
every customer.  This is a great challenge for
laboratories facing high intake every day.
Accordingly, it is highly essential that the
important part of a lab test - the Sample, is
handled with great care, as a first step towards
efficient operation management. This explains the
need for reliable sample management, tracking
batching. For every lab order, the required
sample is first collected, which is next moved to
the appropriate laboratory and analyzed. Every
sample that undergoes a lab test goes through the
sample lifecycle and is managed as implied in the
following manner.
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Sample Management A sample is simply a small
amount of the required test input, that is
collected from the patient, for analysis. The
term sample management implies how a test
sample is collected, tracked through the entire
sample lifecycle, and how it is handled
post-analysis. The Sample Lifecycle Every
laboratory test goes through the following phases
as it enters the sample lifecycle ?
Pre-Analytical phase Clinical test is ordered,
the sample is collected and moved  ? Analytical
phase Clinical test is conducted and the sample
is analyzed  ? Post-Analytical phase Clinical
test report is generated.
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Sample Collection and Movement Usually, once a
test is ordered, the labs start the procedure by
collecting the required samples from the patient.
Based on the type of test, the required type of
sample, and the quantity of the same
varies. With a modernized Lab Information
Management System, there is a facility to track
the samples with barcodes, which makes it
possible to have a unique ID for every sample
collected. These barcodes, further assist in
tracking the sample movement throughout the test
process. Once the sample is acquired, it is
subjected to accession or rejection, to ensure
that the sample is valid to conduct the test.
Once passed, the sample is segregated based on
the test ordered. The collected sample is then
moved to the laboratory where the test is to be
conducted. Now, this could be any lab, a
franchise, an outsourced lab, or a B2B lab, based
on the requirement. This typically covers the
pre-analytic phase of a sample lifecycle.
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Sample Analysis This is when the collected
sample is tested by centrifugation, as per the
order, and the test results are generated, which
are further verified by a professional who can
understand the test and the results. Sample
Archival This is a procedure that is carried
out on the sample collected for certain tests,
where the sample is stored for a long term after
test completion, which could be useful as
evidence or for audit purposes in the future.
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Result Notification After the lab test is
conducted and the desired results are achieved,
it is verified by a suitable specialist, and a
test report is generated. This test report is a
clear and precise record of the patients health
condition, that is revealed from the test. After
the report is created, the healthcare center or
the patient is promptly notified of that. Some
LIMS offer Email report generation as well.
Finally, the test report is dispatched to the
customer.
As indicated, the sample is the most crucial
component for a lab test. Thus supervising and
operating the same with esteemed care is as
important as arriving at precise results, and
maintaining a great TAT.