Verify, poke, draw, label and send — patients might see blood draws as routine. Behind the scenes, though, clinicians, lab techs, managers and directors synchronize with physicians to unveil and treat the body’s mysteries, driving 70% of all clinical decision-making.  

Inspired by researchers’ drive to improve patient outcomes, PDC’s material science and R&D groups craft clinician and technician-focused, high-quality lab solutions designed to enable worry-free workflows and reliable, accurate diagnostic testing. With these tools, clinicians and lab staff can focus on a patient’s next step to wellness.

The Tech's Touchpoint: Precision Begins with Accurate Data Captures

Compassionately collecting samples from anxious or small patients at least 5,550 times monthly is where “protocols meet practice.” Techs must efficiently test, analyze and input data into laboratory information systems (LIS) and draft reports while heeding stringent quality and safety guidelines. It’s important to be able to print and scan patient-specific barcode lab labels at the point of care and testing, making lab Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) solutions, including the options below, crucial.

• Portico^® M4 Mobile Wireless Label Printer — Point-of-care specimen label printing enables error-free specimen identification, with crisply printed patient data and barcodes that are easily scanned

• Code CR2700 - this fourth-generation Bluetooth® 5 barcode scanner brings mobility, accuracy and efficiency to lab barcode scanning

• PDC V-Notch Specimen Labels — An innovative notch guides blood test tube ID application, reducing relabeling and protecting barcodes. Lab techs rave about how much they love these labels, which help clinicians pass off properly labeled tubes to them.
• Mobile lab labels—Glove-friendly label adhesives, features such as aliquots and colored borders, and proper sizing ease bedside specimen handling, reducing relabeling and identification errors

Understanding testing’s demands, PDC fastidiously developed its clinical lab ID solutions for worry-free data workflows so lab techs can reduce the risk of medical errors or the need for retesting.

Economizing and Streamlining Operations

Lab managers blend strategy and tactics for efficient, economical and error-free testing. They know what workflows work for testing specimens and assumptions, improving care at a systematic level with: 

• Decentralization—Having lab identification tools at the point of care or the point of testing instead of a shared, centralized location can help streamline lab workflows and reduce the opportunity for medical errors.
  • Eagle-eyed managers instantly see when a solution, such as the Portico^® M4 Mobile Thermal Label Printer, will improve high-volume, point-of-care collection.  
  • Managers foresee how aggressive data capture, such as that of Code’s CR2700 Barcode Reader, eases tasks by readily scanning damaged or frosty barcodes.
  • Lab managers understand how instant access to user-friendly laboratory label printers at each workstation offloads techs for worry-free testing. 
• Standardization — Managers proactively mitigate errors and drive accurate results by establishing and maintaining consistent procedures and guidelines, ensuring the use of high-quality supplies specifically designed for use in labs.
• Trimming waste — Sophisticated lab data capture can help improve finances. For instance, this iOS app uses Code’s CortexDecoder^® software to track specimens from collection through analysis, saving the average UK health trust £560,000 (about $732,592) annually.
• Contract compliance — Managers maintain relationships with reliable, GPO-contracted suppliers, like PDC, to align budgets, spend and consumption.

Mixing the art of management with scientific methods enables lab managers to ensure financial stability and confidence-building results.

Driving Lab Compatibility and Compliance

Part scientist, mentor and shepherd, lab directors steer researchers through ever-shifting technical, administrative and regulatory challenges. Lab directors and lab managers jointly develop and administer objectives that align with hospital or academic stakeholders through:

• LIS & EHR compatibility — Lab directors ensure ID solutions, such as mobile label printers and associated media, sync with their clinic’s LIS, health IT solutions and electronic health records (EHRs). Worry-free health IT integration minimizes strain on limited help desk resources. 

• Maintaining compliance — Choosing the right supplies can support compliance efforts in labs. For example, choosing the right Blood Bag Labels helps ensure all necessary barcodes, blood groups, product details, and expiration dates are printed on the blood bags following ISBT 128 Blood Bag Labeling Standards. Additionally, proper blood bag labels feature an FDA-compliant adhesive tested to safely adhere directly to blood bags and meet FDA 21 CFR standards.

• Commissioning custom solutions — In guiding clinicians, directors may discover gaps in specimen processing that healthcare solution providers can address. PDC frequently collaborates with institutions to design and manufacture custom lab ID solutions to enhance and streamline existing workflows.

Having risen through the ranks, lab directors understand what’s necessary—from well-trained staff to trusted partners and supplies—to advance medical knowledge through research. 

PDC's Pledge to Empower Lab Professionals

From the initial blood draw to final report, lab professionals sharpen patient care by continuing to ask, "Why?". So PDC engineers keep asking, "How?" How can ID labels be easier to use? How can a label printer cut waste? This shared spirit of discovery drives us to provide high-quality specimen and lab ID solutions for timely, accurate results. Contact PDC today and discover how we can strengthen your lab's vital role in public health.