A new state-of-the-art system is speeding up the delivery of samples from the Emergency Department to ACT Pathology, allowing clinicians to receive results faster and start patient treatment earlier.
The first of its kind in Australia, the Tempus600 is an automated sample tube delivery system connecting the Emergency Department to ACT Pathology on the Canberra Hospital campus.
Team members in the Emergency Department place a patient sample contained in a test tube in a 'hole in the wall', and the sample is delivered directly to laboratory analysers, with no human intervention.
Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new sample delivery system eliminates manual processes to prepare, pack and unpack samples, reduces the possibility of error, and frees up time to focus on other important tasks.
"Most clinical sample delivery systems require multiple steps to prepare and send a sample, which can create a bottleneck at certain points in the process of sending a sample to the laboratory," Minister Stephen-Smith said.
"The new Tempus system is one touch technology - put the clinical sample in the Tempus machine, and the system does the rest. Samples take approximately 40 seconds to travel from the Emergency Department to the lab in Pathology, which is a big time-saver when processing around 100,000 clinical samples each year."
"This new technology means samples can be analysed sooner, which leads to faster patient diagnosis, earlier treatment, and a shorter stay in hospital. The system is also directly linked into the Digital Health Record, maintaining accuracy and assurance of the right test results for the right patients.
"In addition to speeding up the delivery of clinical samples, the Tempus system also provides greater consistency in how long it takes for results to be available. When treating a seriously ill patient in Emergency, these factors can make all the difference to their health outcomes."
Quotes attributable to Greg Brylski, Executive Director of Pathology and Allied Health, Canberra Health Services:
"The implementation of the Tempus Pathology system at Canberra Health Services offers a significant advancement in delivering patient centred care. The Tempus streamlines pathology workflows allowing faster access to patient results, without compromising patient care.
"This Australian first innovation brings pathology services closer to the patient, facilitating quicker diagnoses while efficiently reducing administrative burdens on the healthcare system, when our healthcare professionals are required to focus on patient care."
