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Check your blind spot!
It’s “Driving 101” for merging and changing lanes. Yet overlooking blind spots causes
800,000 accidents annually in the US alone (per the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration). The problem is pervasive enough that blind-spot monitoring systems
are increasingly common in
new passenger vehicles sold
in America.
Drivers aren’t the only ones
overlooking blind spots—
improperly labeled and
tracked blood tests lead to
incorrect diagnosis and
angst. However, clinicians
and hospitals now have a
blind spot monitoring
system, too: MSoft
eSolutions’ Sample360.
Available as software or a
standalone smartphone app, Sample360 is a powerful sample tracking and
management solution. Utilizing Code’s CortexDecoder barcode scanning software
development kit (SDK), Sample360 improves safety and efficiency by tracking samples
from collection to lab analysis.
Blood Tests, Barcodes & Blind Spots: Sample360 App Cuts Costly
Errors by Phlebotomy Samples with Code’s CortexDecoder SDK
Figure 1: MSoft eSolutions’ Sample360 app tracks medical samples from the
testing site (homes or hospitals) to lab via barcode to eliminate costly errors
resulting from incorrectly labeled samples.
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Sample-taking isn’t Always Simple
Sampling has long relied on manual data collection. For routine blood tests, a sheet of
labels is printed and collected by a busy nurse, who then locates the patient. After a
quick visual check, the labels are peeled off and attached (hopefully) to the right tubes.
Like most manual processes, it was cost-effective—until it wasn’t.
Many errors, MSoft discovered, related to positive patient identification and incorrect
labeling—rushed caregivers just glanced at patient materials. Secondly, sample
requests could change from initial label printing (up to two days prior) until collection.
The papers were indeed a blind spot—nurses weren’t notified of deviations, such as
additional sample requests.
“In those instances are varying error rates,” explains Matt McAlister, MSoft’s managing
director. “Look at a typical hospital collecting a million samples annually through
Sample360; before integration, they averaged a 6% error rate. Looking at a million,
60,000 incorrect samples—with the wrong name or person—were rejected. When
hospitals switched to Sample360, errors dropped to 0.
“A rejected sample costs approximately £14.00. Multiplied by 60,000, that's how much
rejections cost because the samples weren’t done properly,” he says.
MSoft calculates that Sample360 saves the average health trust £560,000 annually.
Bullish about New Markets
There’s little wonder why Sample360 has conquered the UK. First, it is an independent
provider, making it quite unique. Secondly, the cloud-based app is mobile for use in all
sorts of settings, from hospitals to patients’ homes.
“We are truly independent of lab and hospital systems because we run a standards-
based communication protocol using HL7 (for standardized medical data transfer),”
McAlister explains. “We offer much more than big lab systems. In a mini-tender with UK
clinicians, we scored 95%; they scored 40% because they were missing parts like off-
site surgeries.”
Sample360’s performance has opened new markets, like the United Arab Emirates, and
created opportunities, such as animal husbandry.
“There are spinoffs—we could end up in the veterinary world because we know there
are high-value assets worth tracking. For example, we had a party wanting to track bull
semen because it’s worth an absolute fortune and is transported globally.”
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Given its global application scope, Sample360 is
scalable and compatible with devices like mobile
label printers. The app is compatible with iOS,
Android, and their common handhelds, such as
iPhones in hospitals and ruggedized Samsung
devices in industry.
Poised for a Pandemic?
At the onset of the 2020 pandemic, Sample360
leaped from operating theaters to the frontlines.
“Our prime interest is surgical needs, collecting
and sending samples to a central hub. We’re also
instrumental in large hospital networks that have
samples moving between facilities,” McAlister
notes. “But we've also been involved with massive
COVID-related projects as needs evolved from
antigen to antibody testing.”
With testing key to curtailing COVID, the UK’s
government sought data to gauge progress. This
need created an opening for Sample360 because
it provides a central data hub with an integrated
business intelligence tool—a quantum leap over
previous systems.
“When the UK government was conducting
COVID tests, there was a huge outcry because
they were storing data in an old version of
Microsoft Excel, which was limited to about 64,000
records,” McAlister recalls. “They discovered they
were missing records and had incorrect sums,
forcing a mass-upgrade to Excel’s latest version.
This is when you realize that the systems behind
the scenes of these big organizations are
antiquated.”
Behind Sample360’s Success?
Barcodes. Sample360 allows a nurse to print labels (with barcodes) and tag samples
during collection anywhere, like bedside. The sample is rescanned with the patient’s ID
wristband for positive patient identification; the sample is then scanned throughout
transit to verify appropriate handling and timely transit. Once at the lab, another scan
closes the loop.
Sample360 is seamless; however, its development wasn’t as smooth.
Figure 2: Sample360 overview
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MSoft initially used barcode scanning jackets that were increasingly outdated and
expensive; Sample360’s developers then migrated to a conglomerate’s barcode image
processing library. However, it didn’t offer the barcode scanning quality needed in
frenetic healthcare settings.
“We contacted another organization and had a conversation, but they did not
understand our needs. Then I found Code and began the conversation—we liked
Code’s flexible approach.
We chose Code and are happy with our experience. Among the things we're pleased
with are barcode scanning speed and quality. It’s significantly faster than the scanning
jackets,” McAlister shares.
Sample360's rapid scanning on the front end and rapid integration on the back end are
tremendous advantages—especially for large hospital networks. In Southampton,
England, MSoft implemented Sample360 in a network of 30+ hospitals in less than a
month, no small feat considering this was during COVID-19’s onset.
Off to the Races!
Vanguard athletes (both equine and human) can undergo anti-doping blood and urine
tests virtually anytime, anywhere. Since titles, purses, and pride ride on results, athletics
are prime for Sample360 because every link in the custody chain is verified via barcode.
Similarly, law enforcement and prisons can collect samples for drug and alcohol tests as
warranted.
“The use can be anything
where a sample is taken
from a body—human or
animal—then that specimen
is transported for analysis.
Sample360 is the product to
do that,” McAlister
concludes.
Ready to upgrade your
operation’s sample tracking
and handling with a 360°
view? Contact MSoft to learn
more about Sample360
integration.
Will better barcode scanning boost the bottom line? Contact Code; let’s find the right
barcode reader or software for your product or project.
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Figure 3: Sample360’s flexibility holds tremendous promise for animal
husbandry and testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
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