Efficient sample transport frees up resources in crowded A&E

A general problem in German healthcare is, that an increasing number of patients from outpatient clinics are turning to hospitals A&E for help. This situation impacts the workflow and places a significant strain on hospital resources.

Neubrandenburg is an academic teaching hospital of University Greifswald and one of many German hospitals under daily pressure to start patient treatment earlier and discharge ambulatory patients more efficiently. The hospital treats 47,000 patients a year and has 1,040 beds. More than 100 patients are treated each day in A&E.

Need for faster test results demanded an innovative solution

In 2016, the Laboratory Manager, Professor Egon Werle, was looking for a new way of improving the workflow and optimizing the total turn-around time for STAT blood samples. Having read an article about Tempus600, Professor Werle attended a live presentation of the Tempus600 system at the Greifswald University Hospital.

The hospital management decided to buy the Tempus600 solution and in July 2018, the new system was installed in A&E in the hospital’s existing buildings built in the 1970s. Today, the sample tubes are transported 200 meters from A&E on the ground floor via the narrow, dedicated pipeline, to the laboratory on the first floor.

The laboratory procedures are the same, but the overall workflow has improved significantly because the nurses can now concentrate on their primary tasks, taking care of the patients, instead of walking with the samples.

The challenge

A general problem in German healthcare is that an increasing number of patients from outpatient clinics are turning to the hospital’s A&E for help. This situation impacts on the workflow and places a significant strain on the hospital's resources.

In 2016, the Laboratory Manager, Professor Egon Werle, was looking for a new way of improving the workflow and optimizing the total turn-around time for STAT blood samples.

The solution

The Tempus600 system was identified as a possible turning point in achieving faster test results and starting patient treatment earlier.

The hospital management decided to buy the Tempus600 solution and in July 2018, the new system was installed in A&E in the hospital's existing buildings built in the 1970s.

The benefits

• Tempus600 saves a lot of time and resources for the nurses in A&E
• Overall turnaround time for blood samples are reduced significantly
• Even flow of samples has reduced peaks in the laboratory
• Colleagues don’t have to call for test results

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