Barcode Your QI Part 1
To reduce STAT turnaround time variation, you sometimes have to dig deeper. A chemistry specimen, for example, may have at least four stops before a result is sent from an analyzer to the information system to be verified: labeling, centrifugation, chemistry bench, and analyzer. If some STATs take longer than others to complete, it can be useful to know exactly when the specimen arrives at each of these stops.
A log sheet can be posted at each station for techs to record the information: the tube identification number, date, and time of arrival. The problem with this, of course, is that any additional work interferes with the process. The time to document skews the turnaround time, and techs will forget, batch, and fudge the numbers. The STAT itself will take priority more than not.
Even if techs want to record accurate data, there will be error. Consider another real-time system – say, your payroll time clocks. People forget, clock in late, or submit exceptions to correct a time with a desire for accuracy. And that's one isolated process. A manual documentation system as described above is not only flawed by design but competes with STAT processing.
I recently solved this problem using barcode scanners headed for the dumpster and a quick and dirty batch file program. We wand the barcode on the tube at each station, and the account number and time stamp is added to a log file on the computer that I load into a spreadsheet. Setup time was less than a half hour – including programming the scanners themselves – and data collection a second per tube.
A manual log sheet or computer screen requires that a tech read the document, read the tube, look at the clock, and document. The elegance of scanning a barcode on one tube to collect quality information is not just minimal process interference. The beauty of a barcode is a simple boop to collect data. And setting all this up is easier than you might think.
Next, I'll explain how.