Chang Gung Memorial Hospital optimizes lab’s workflow and reduces their pre-analytical TAT by 28%*

The Department of Laboratory Medicine at CGMH Tucheng is committed to specific SLAs to deliver test results to departments treating both inpatients and outpatients in a highly dynamic city hospital environment.

The laboratory at CGMH Tucheng operates according to strict guidelines on quality controls and turnaround times: in a constant effort to optimize laboratory performance, the Lab Director endeavoured to monitor and improve performance on test delivery for urgent outpatient samples as a first step toward optimal operational efficiency.

Lab Director Mr. Lin and his team accessed relevant lab workflow data on navify Analytics to establish a baseline of their current performance on STAT (urgent) outpatient samples for which acceptable turnaround time (TAT) is set by CGMH Quality Committee at a maximum of 60 minutes. The lab was shown to produce the required results in 55 minutes (avg.).

Analyses performed on navify Analytics showed that transportation time took up a large portion of the overall diagnostic workflow: in a typical month, the process of transferring samples from the phlebotomy station to the pre-analytical platforms in the lab was executed in 18 minutes (avg.), amounting to 38% of the total TAT. Using these data, the lab identified a bottleneck on the automated transmission system and intervened to reduce the delay in sample delivery. As a result, data analysis run on the month following the workflow change showed a 28% decrease in transportation time, with an optimized transportation flow completed in 13 minutes (avg.).*

In parallel, analytical performance was evaluated through the examination of multiple parameters that might affect TAT such as rerun rates, instrument utilization levels, autovalidation and workflow setup. Recurrent delays were identified in relation to individual samples sharing common patterns: whenever tests such as LDH, Cortisol and CO2 were requested on urgent samples, overall TAT was over 60 minutes. Examining samples’ lifecycles using navify Analytics highlighted an under-optimal workflow setup. Re-engineering the testing prioritization on analyzers to streamline the workflow determined a substantial decrease in the analytical TAT: LDH’s average TAT dropped from 67 minutes to 13 minutes, equal to an 80% decrease, with a subsequent impact on samples’ overall TAT performance.*

The infographics below illustrate the improvements in turnaround time (TAT) segments at CGMH Tucheng following the implementation of navify Analytics. The visual comparison between August 2022 (before implementation) and October 2022 (after implementation) highlights:

• A 28% reduction in transportation time, decreasing from 18 minutes to 13 minutes

• Adjustments in processing and verification steps to optimize workflows

• A significant drop in the percentage of outliers, from 80.4% to 1.5%, improving test result consistency

By leveraging navify Analytics, CGMH Tucheng successfully optimized its pre-analytical and analytical workflows, reducing inefficiencies and enhancing laboratory performance.

The infographics below showcase the distribution of turnaround time (TAT) before and after workflow optimizations at CGMH Tucheng using navify Analytics. The comparison between August 2022 (before implementation) and October 2022 (after implementation) highlights:

• A dramatic reduction in analytical outliers, with an 80% decrease in delayed test results

• Smoother and more consistent TAT distribution, demonstrating improved workflow efficiency

• Faster test result delivery, ensuring timely diagnostics and optimized operational performance

By identifying bottlenecks and refining pre-analytical and analytical processes, CGMH Tucheng successfully minimized variability in test turnaround times, leading to more reliable and efficient laboratory operations.