Purchasing an automation solution is a major investment and Danyel H. Tacker, PhD, FACB, DABCC wants labs to make informed decisions. In an AACC-sponsored webinar on September 13, “How to Select and Evaluate Chemistry Automation Solutions,” she’ll go through the ABCs of platform options, vendors, performing critical reviews of proposed solutions, and the right way to issue a request for proposal.
“It may sound like a cliché, but it’s completely true in lab medicine: Knowledge is power, particularly when a lab is facing a purchase so large,” said Tacker, director of chemistry and mass spectrometry at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, West Virginia, and an associate professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine.
Costs for automation solutions for laboratories easily surpass $1 million. According to Tacker, the best way to make the optimal decision on automation solutions is to involve stakeholders at all levels in the laboratory structure. “This approach makes the acquisition and reasoning for it more transparent,” she explained.
Labs implementing automation systems face a number of obstacles. A lack of buy-in from bench-level users is an especially big hindrance, which is why it’s critical to engage them early on—and keep them informed, Tacker advised.
“Also, involving administrative and facilities contacts throughout the search and acquisition enables them to ask questions early, so that roadblocks don’t pop up along the way. In the end, timely delivery depends on early and frequent communication,” she said.
Lab managers, supervisors, technologists, and lab directors are encouraged to sign up for this informative webinar on September 13 from 2-3 p.m. Register now, and earn 1.0 ACCENT® credits.