New Parkland hospital features rapid response lab
Some tests have a 30 minute receipt-to-result time
Health care professionals often talk about the art and science of medicine as the difference between intuition and scientific evidence. Although each has its role in modern medicine, innovation in the new Parkland hospital will allow physicians to quickly make evidence-based decisions that will enhance and expedite patient care.
A rapid response laboratory in the new hospital, scheduled to open in 2015, will provide targeted analytical tests for critical areas such as the Emergency Department, Operating Room, Labor & Delivery and the intensive care units. The lab is anticipated to perform 3.2 million tests annually and provide clinicians a turn-around-time of 30 minutes from receipt to result for most tests.
“Time is of the essence when you have a critically ill patient,” said Kyle Molberg, MD, Chief of Pathology at Parkland Health & Hospital System. “The rapid response lab will deliver test results quickly to providers, enabling them to initiate the proper course of treatment for patients as rapidly as possible.”
New laboratory equipment will offer both basic and advanced test results for blood chemistry levels, cardiac markers, liver and kidney profiles, complete blood counts, blood gases, routine coagulation testing and urinalysis panels. The lab will also be able to assess the entire blood clotting process in real time to enable precise transfusion and patient management on trauma patients.
The 6,500 square-foot lab design incorporated the Lean concepts of linear workflows with “first in/first out” processes to provide high quality service levels. The strategic location of the lab on the new hospital’s second floor directly over the Emergency Department and adjacent to other critical areas promotes prompt delivery of the specimens via the pneumatic tube system.
Through a comprehensive series of pneumatic tubes, much like bank tellers use with drive-through customers, the system will allow nurses to quickly send and receive blood products from the lab, thereby reducing errors and improving patient safety.
There will be a network of vertical and horizontal sealed tubes throughout the hospital. The system will pull carriers containing samples for testing from each loading station through use of computer monitored and controlled air-vacuum technology. Traveling at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, carriers will be quickly transported to the lab to ensure samples are rapidly tested and results reported to clinicians.
In fiscal year 2013, Parkland’s pathology department performed more than 10 million tests, making it one of the busiest hospital pathology departments in the Metroplex.
For more information on new Parkland hospital, please visit www.parklandhospital.com
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