Integration brought gains to LIS developer company and its clients, according to its commercial director
Participants in the Laboratory Indicator Benchmarking Program (PBIL) – a management tool that quantifies laboratory performance and compares it with the market – may face challenges during the process until deciding which information to prioritize. This task becomes much simpler when some steps are automated – such as standardized data collection.
As facilitators of this process, there are the companies that develop laboratory information systems (LIS) that have already integrated their clients’ management software into the indicator program. They thus become partners of PBIL, a program conducted by the Brazilian Society of Clinical Pathology/Laboratory Medicine and Controllab. This is the case of Karyon Computer Consulting, which has already integrated 16 indicators into its Bioslab management system. Located in Rio de Janeiro, Karyon’s clients include public and private institutions, medium and large hospital and outpatient laboratories.
This integration brings more process agility and reliability because it eliminates errors that could occur in steps such as typing data into the program. The integrated PBIL provides more time and allows efforts to be focused on benchmarking analysis and actions that will be needed after comparison.
The technical manager of the Pinheiro Machado laboratory, Mabel Emilião Peixoto, a user of the Karyon Bioslab Indicator Program, confirms this assessment. “The integration of the indicator program into the laboratory system has facilitated data imputation, which is now done directly. This gives us the certainty of more reliable reports. Before, the process was manual, there was a risk of losing some information,”recalls Mabel Peixoto, for whom the interfacing not only facilitated the routine but also added time to analysis and management. Pinheiro Machado conducts around 55,000 exams per month in medium-sized laboratories and, according to the technician, has benefited from PBIL to improve management, process traceability, reduce costs, qualify professionals and provide a comparative assessment from the market. “The reports visually show us where we need to improve financially and technically,” he concludes.
The partnership between PBIL and LIS companies, according to Karyon Commercial Director Durval Belem, also brought a big win for his company: “The biggest benefit Karyon has achieved is that it provides our customers with a comparative analysis of laboratory efficiency in this increasingly competitive market”, he says.
“Let’s imagine a hypothetical example of a laboratory that performs 80,000 exams per month with 8 employees in its technical area. Is this laboratory efficient? Is 10,000 exams / month per employee a satisfactory number? This question is a very representative example of the scope of what the PBIL wants to answer. With the information that Karyon feeds into the PBIL, the laboratory manager will have a clear diagnosis of his strengths and weaknesses to devote efforts to important processes and increase the efficiency of his laboratory”, exemplifies the commercial director from Karyon.
To help users gain insight into the performance of their processes, Karyon CEO Wander Tavares included in the company’s strategies the availability of integrated PBIL by January 2020 for all Bioslab management system laboratories. Aware of the importance that benchmarking information places on routine, it plans to integrate new indicators quarterly, until the scope of indicators is largely covered by automation of data collection to promote continuous improvement for its customers.
The company held on December 6th a workshop in the auditorium of SBPC/ML, in Rio, which had the PBIL and the integration with the laboratory system as one of the themes. “The purpose was to present the opportunities that the Karyon/SBPC/Controllab partnership is bringing to the laboratories, thus fulfilling what is a great goal for us: innovation and technology at the service of our customers”, comments Durval Belém.
More than 70 representatives from Rio de Janeiro’s main laboratories, including managers and strategic professionals, attended the meeting. The day was dedicated to the best practices of key quality control tools and how LIS maximizes information for the benefit of the routine. The application of these tools was shown in a practical way, with presentation of real cases. In a moment of interaction, the participants stressed the importance of the event for the updating of knowledge.
Partnerships with LIS companies began in 2018, when CEOs of top developers pledged to simplify data collection. This year, the companies that carried out the actions aligned in 2018 were recognized as PBIL partners and were supported by SBPC/ML and Controllab to continue expanding the integrated indicators that are available to the laboratories.
Created 13 years ago, in 2016 the PBIL had an increased scope of indicators – today there are 150 – and underwent restatements to allow the comparison of data also internationally. The program compares best practices through indicators that enable managers to monitor their business performance, assess strengths and weaknesses, develop strategies and improve operating results.
Information on how to participate in the Laboratory Indicator Benchmarking Program can be obtained directly from Controllab: contato@controllab.com or + 55 21 3891-9900.