ABSTRACT
Automation in clinical microbiology is starting to become more common place and reportedly offers several advantages over the manual laboratory. Most studies have reported on the rapid turn-around-times for culture results including times for identification of pathogens and their respective antimicrobial susceptibilities, but few have studied the benefits from a laboratory efficiency point of view. This is the first large, multicenter study in North America to report on the benefits derived from automation measured in full-time equivalents (FTE), FTE reallocation, productivity, cost per specimen, and cost avoidance. Pre- and post-full automation audits were done at 4 laboratories that have vastly different culture volumes, and results show that regardless of size of the facility, improved efficiencies can be realized after implementation of full laboratory automation.
- Copyright © 2020 Culbreath et al.
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