The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has upgraded its RAPIDComm data management system to version 4.0 to integrate the control of blood gas, urinalysis and diabetes point-of-care (POC) testing to help drive compliance and improve patient care.
The main driver to install the solution was to work in-line with Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA) guidelines.
The initial focus of the RAPIDComm system when first released was to provide POC coordinators with real-time oversight of multiple Siemens RAPIDSystems blood gas analysers from a single location. Wide-ranging blood gas capabilities include the ability to access and troubleshoot connected instruments, set alerts, manage operators, generate quality control reports, schedule and record maintenance activities and view live screens to take direct control of RAPIDLab 1200 and RAPIDPoint 400 and 500 series blood gas analysers from the laboratory or remote office locations.
Siemens has now expanded the functionality of the RAPIDComm system with version 4.0, which also supports CLINITEK Status Connect urine chemistry analysers and DCA Vantage HbA1c diabetes care test instruments.
“Achieving CPA accreditation is extremely important for the Royal Free,” said Gillian Hall, POCT manager and clinical biochemistry quality manager. “Service users and
patients can be confident that our POC testing is safe. What’s more, we can lower our insurance premiums to the NHS Litigation Authority. If we can move to the next NHSLA level by demonstrating CPA compliance, it will equate to significant savings for the trust.”
www.siemens.co.uk/diagnostics