J Lab Med Qual Assur.  2009 Dec;31(2):247-253.

Experience of Use of the Automated Chemistry Analyzer Cobas(R) 6000<501(2)> to Improve Work Flow of Emergency Chemistry Laboratory

• Kim BC
• Seo YI
• Kim YH
• Seo MS
• Lee DE
• Choi TY
• Shin JW
• Park R

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital emergency laboratory introduced Cobas(R) 6000 (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland) to improve the turnaround time of emergency chemistry tests at peak time period.
METHODS
For the designated period, before and after introduction of Cobas(R) 6000 the numbers of tests and test time were compared and we analyzed the process of the tests using Workflow simulator (Roche Diagnostics).
RESULTS
The numbers of tests of 8 days (every Monday and Thursday) in June, 2007 and 2008 were 22,902 and 27,384. The mean test time of the 8 days in June, 2007 and 2008 were 13 min 41 sec and 12 min 22 sec. In 2007, increased mean test time was due to prolongation of waiting times in rotor within equipment for tests at peak time period.
CONCLUSIONS
Using Cobas(R) 6000, the numbers of tests were increased at peak time period but mean test time was reduced, which made physicians and laboratory all satisfied.

Keyword

Cobas(R) 6000; Numbers of tests; Mean test time

MeSH Terms

Emergencies
Workflow