PathArchiv™ | Automated Block and Slide Archiving
PathArchiv automates sample handling, recording and archive management eliminating sample loss while substantially reducing staff EFT easing staffing shortages.
Homegrown file room management, slow error prone work...
Lab managers have valiantly built home grown file room management systems, first using paper and now using electronic spread sheets. In both cases, the weak link is the manual recording and handling of samples which suffers from the “mean human error” rate as well as ongoing labor costs. It is no surprise that this process deals with missing samples on a regular basis while simultaneously absorbing a significant percentage of the laboratory staff to sort, record, file, and pick samples let alone account for the time required by personnel assigned to search for missing and lost samples.
In the quest to address this issue Lab managers have assembled a wish list for their next solution:
❑ Reduce File Room EFT
❑ Reduce / Eliminate Lost Samples
❑ Purpose Built to Manage Sample Loans and Collections
❑ Minimize Implementation Costs
❑ Minimize Storage Container Costs
❑ Maximize Storage Density
PathArchiv™ | A new era of file room management
Designed for Histology Labs by Histology Labs
SPOT Imaging has partnered with Lab Improvements to bring you PathArchiv. A system that has been design in cooperation with histology labs to ensure that their “Must Have” requirements have been met.
Reduce labor costs and free up valuable staff time
Case studies show that one of the biggest advantages that PathArchiv can deliver to your lab is the reduction in the staff time required to manage the sample file room. In one high volume case the lab went from 8 EFT to 3 EFT while doubling their sample filing. The result was a tremendous savings to the lab file room budget, while transferring the extra staff to open positions eliminating their staffing shortage.
These savings are especially welcomed by financial officers since they would require growth on the order of 20x the amount of the savings to reap the same margin* (*-based on a 5% profit margin)
Eliminate lost samples:
While we can’t say that PathArchiv will eliminate all samples losses, it does dramatically reduce sample losses by eliminating the most significant contributing factors: Manual transcription and record entry, manual sample filing and un-optimized sample loan procedures.
PathArchiv uses automation to: 1) read sample barcodes, 2) file samples into their magazines and 3)record the location of the sample. This process removes the baseline human error rate and engages human intervention to address special cases and exceptions to the standard operating procedure. Augmenting these improvements is a purpose-built database management system with check-out and check-in safeguards that eliminate “sneak-around” procedures that undermine the legacy loan management systems. The result is a multi-magnitude reduction in misfiled or un-returned samples dramatically reducing the need for sample search parties
Cost-effective standard-size storage containers
Every aspect of PathArchiv is designed to save money, including the format of the storage containers. SPOT engineers purposefully selected storage containers to match standard format box and magazine insert sizes. There’s no need to purchase expensive all-new shelving for custom-sized storage, as is the case with many competitive products. By adhering to standard sizes, you retain the system’s cost-savings now and in the future.
Maximize sample storage density:
PathArchiv breaks a long-held paradigm: Sequential Sample Storage. Sequential sample storage was a simple reliable system for human filing clerks to understand and maintain. Each sample is stored in its numerical order based on case number and subsample designator. The downfall with this system is related the reserve space required in the storage magazine to accommodate late arriving samples. This space, typically on the order of 25%, has reduced the effective density of sample storage.
PathArchiv eliminates the need for reserve space in the storage magazines since it tracks the location of every specimen, allowing specimens to be filed into the next available space allowing enabling the full loading of the storage magazines. The result is a decrease in the space required by 33%* (* - 100%/75% = 133% ) allowing a corresponding decrease in off-site storage and its associated fees. Picking is easily facilitated by PathArchiv provides the clerk with a list which provide archive clerks a list of locations to pick samples from. An additional savings comes from the elimination of refiling fees since returned samples are processed along with the new entries into the archive, PathArchiv just updates its entries and tracks the new locations.
PathArchiv user work flow