Klinisch Laboratorium DeclerckArdooie, BelgiumDominique Declerck, Lab Director

Sofie Arens, Clinical Biologist

The Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck is known for its ability to provide clinicians with consistently accurate results and impressive turnaround times. However, Lab Director Dominique Declerck knows that as a private laboratory, any drop in standards could lead to samples being sent elsewhere for analysis. As a result, he is focused on maintaining excellent service levels – even in the face of ever increasing sample volumes. Thanks to Roche, he has the right equipment – and partner – to ensure his laboratory’s reputation remains fully intact.

Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck, Ardooie, Belgium

• Private laboratory

• 4 million results per year

Founded in 1994, the Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck is a private laboratory that provides routine analysis alongside a range of special-ized testing for doctors across East and West Flanders.

The lab currently receives up to 1200 samples every day, which – with an average of 10 tests requested per sample – equates to over 4 million tests every year. To help them deliver this, they have 40 employees including 20 lab technicians, 8 drivers for sample collection, 7 administrators and 3 part-time assistants.

Their success to date has been based on a simple promise – to provide doctors with the most accurate results in the shortest possible time.

By investing in the latest technology they hope to be able to keep this promise, bringing workflow efficiencies and high levels of quality control to everything that they do.

As Sofie Arens, Clinical Biologist, explains, this investment has been particularly significant in recent times:

“In the five years following 2005 we experienced serious growth of about 20%. This meant that in 2010 we had to renovate and expand our laboratory. This period of investment gave us the opportunity to switch to the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series and it’s one of the best decisions we’ve made.”

Planning for growth

“Switching to the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series as a response to the lab’s rapid growth and the need to expand

and renovate is one of the best decisions we’ve made.”

The Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck not only invests in the latest technology to generate results, but has also worked hard to find the best way to communicate those results.

On an average working day they will receive about 1000 samples at 15:00. By 18:00, the team will have analyzed all of these samples – equating to around 10,000 results in three hours. At 19:00 they receive another 200 samples, which are processed in ninety minutes to meet a 20:30 deadline.

As soon as these results are available, all of the laboratory’s customers can access them via the lab’s website, on their smartphones or tablets. It is a special service that the Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck offers and helps it to differentiate from its competitors.

Total system solutions

Prior to 2010, the laboratory had worked with a MODULAR ANALYTICS <DP> configuration for clinical chemistry and an <EE> configuration for immunochemistry testing. While this setup had performed admirably – and allowed the laboratory to build its reputation – it was clear that something new was needed. Dominique Declerck, Lab Director, explains:

“Given the 20% growth, we urgently needed more analytical capacity so the MODULAR systems had to be changed. Having worked in diagnostics for over 20 years I was aware of the quality and reliability of Hitachi components so the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series seemed an obvious

choice, particularly with the high standard of reagents and broad menu available. The switch was so easy. We now use a cobas® 8000 <7012 | 502> configuration for our chemistry testing and a MODULAR <EEEE> configuration for our immunochemistry testing.”

Alongside these modules, Mr. Declerck also took the opportunity to integrate the MODULAR® PRE-ANALYTICS EVO (MPA) system which has helped to revolutionize sample management. Roche’s intelligent MPA system automates all pre-analytical steps including centrifuging, decapping and aliquoting before transporting the samples to connected clinical chemistry, immunochemistry and coagulation analyzers.

The laboratory had never used a pre-analytical system before which meant that a lot of time had been wasted looking for samples and aliquots. With the MPA system in place, everything works smoothly and this has contributed to creating a stress-free environment in the laboratory, as Mrs. Arens can testify:

“All of our primary tubes are handled by the MPA. It carries out the aliquoting for the entire laboratory and is a real workhorse. During our peak time – between 13:45 and 16:15 – we need to process around 600 tubes but the MPA has more than enough capacity to handle this volume.”

Speed is the key

“With the MPA system in place, everything works smoothly and this has contributed to creating a stress-free

environment in the laboratory.”

With so many doctors and patients relying on this service, It is important that Mr. Declerck and his team are working as efficiently as possible, with exceptional quality control checks in place. That is where the strengths of the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series shine through.

Two sample probes and four reagent probes ensure fast sample and reagent pipetting, which results in significantly improved overall sample availability. It offers high-speed throughput too – ranging from 170 tests per hour up to 8,400 tests per hour. Intelligent sample routing, with fast transportation and return lines, means that samples always find the fastest way out, via shortcuts that are supported by special switch gates in each module. It also means that emergency tests can be seamlessly integrated to improve sample turnaround times.

Quality and safety are also of paramount importance. Contact-free ultrasonic mixing and disposable tips help to minimize the potential for carryover and reduce water consumption. In addition, Roche’s unique reagent cassettes are proven to be of the highest quality and combine with Hitachi reliability to create genuine confidence in results. This is all backed up by cobas® e-services, which offer automated reagent, calibrator and control downloads.

These benefits are clear to Mr. Declerck:“With the MPA and cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series we only need three lab technicians to do all the work. It’s such a robust solution and everything is so fast. It’s a real advantage not having a separate route for STAT samples – they’re simply a part of the same workflow as our routine testing. We’ve also been able to build in some contingency measures by mirroring our two high throughput cobas c 701 modules. This means that, if necessary, we can immediately switch from one to the other without losing valuable time.”

Alongside the clear improvements in efficiency and quality, Roche’s innovative tailormade reagent cassettes have brought a new level of flexibility to the testing capabilities at the Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck. The cassettes have been designed to help optimize workflow and cost management by delivering the ideal combination of size and on-board stability. This is particularly evident with the mid volume throughput cobas c 502 clinical chemistry module.

With a capacity of up to 600 tests per hour and 60 reagent channels, the laboratory team use the cobas c 502 module to analyze specific proteins, perform therapeutic drug monitoring and offer drug of abuse testing. This specialized service had previously created some logistical challenges but, with the new setup, these problems have disappeared, as Mrs. Arens explains:

“The specialized tests are not carried out quite as frequently as the other tests we perform so the smaller reagent cassettes provide the perfect mix between fewer tests per cassette and optimized on-board stability. Because of the size of the cassettes, a month’s supply of stock takes up much less room in our cooling area allowing us to optimize the new space we have available.”

Unique reagent concept provides the perfect balance

“The cassettes have been designed to help optimize workflow and cost management by delivering the ideal combination of size and on-board stability.”

As Mr. Declerck and the team at the Klinisch Laboratorium Declerck continue to tailor their services to meet the ever-changing needs of doctors across the region, they know that their equipment can grow with them too.

In the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series they have a platform that has been designed to reduce the complexity of laboratory operation. They have seen the power of pre-analytics, experienced the flexibility of unique reagent cassettes and have enjoyed a more relaxed working environment thanks to proven quality and safety features that ensure reliable results.

It means they can look forward to tackling the challenges that their inevitable growth will bring – safe in the knowledge that the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series will leave them ideally positioned to keep their promise of providing doctors with the most accurate results in the shortest possible time.

“With Roche and the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series we have found the ideal partner. One that understands our needs and is focused on helping us deliver the highest standards of laboratory diagnostics.”

A flexible future

Klinisch Laboratorium DeclerckArdooie, Belgium

0913

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