Clinical Review
The Impact of Laboratory Automation on Performance Improvement
Fed Pract. 2008 June;25(6):14
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L. Brannon Thomas, MD, PhD, Andrew A. Borkowski, MD, Maria Rubero-Lung, MPH, MT, ASCP, Philip R. Foulis, MD, MPH, Joseph N. Burgett, MT, Edward P. Cutolo, MD, Virginia Bailie, MT, ASCP, Ozzie Skinner, MT, AMT, and Stephen M. Mastorides, MD
Dr. Thomas is the section chief of microbiology for the pathology and laboratory medicine (PLM) service; Dr. Borkowski is the section chief of
molecular diagnostics for the PLM service, Ms. Rubero-Lung is the PLM service's laboratory compliance officer, Dr. Foulis is the section chief of pathology informatics for the PLM service, Mr. Burgett is the PLM service's laboratory automated data processing area coordinator, Dr. Cutolo is the chief of staff, Ms. Bailie is the chief medical technologist in the PLM service, Mr. Skinner is the lead technologist of molecular diagnostics for the PLM service, and Dr. Mastorides is the chief of the PLM service, all at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL. In addition, Dr. Borkowski and Dr. Foulis are both
associate professors and Dr. Mastorides is an assistant professor in the department of pathology and cell biology and Dr. Cutolo is an associate professor in the department of internal medicine, all at the University of South Florida, Tampa.
With a plethora of challenges facing today’s laboratories—including increasing work volume, labor shortages, and curbed budgets—full or partial automation systems could be a tremendous asset. These authors explored the effects of test automation systems in two VA laboratories.