“Curmudge, when a fact or concept is ‘hardwired,’ does that mean that it will never be forgotten?”
“To me, Jaded Julie, the term ‘hardwired’ (which most of us learned from the writings of Quint Studer) is not an absolute. Without reinforcement, most of the professional stuff we learned years ago will eventually slip away. However, it’s interesting that sometimes personal experiences will stick with us forever. An example is when my older playmates kicked me out of the sandbox because I was only four years old.”
“I must admit that during the years we have worked together I’ve become impressed by the leakiness of your memory. Is it true that you tell your educated friends that their advanced degrees expired after 40 years?”
“Although I’m just kidding, for most people the concept is probably correct. Exceptions would be some professors and physicians who teach or use their professional knowledge on a daily basis. They support my contention that reinforcement is essential.”
“If as you say mental ‘wiring’ comes in varying degrees of hardness, you must know some convincing examples.”
“At the extreme end of hardness are the connections between the mind and fingers of the professional musician. These people are able to see a multitude of notes on a score and translate them into actions of their fingers (and sometimes feet) at a frequency of several per second. It takes years of practice to develop those connections; and if they stop practicing, they lose their performer’s ‘edge.’ But they never totally forget basic fingering.”
“Do we see some of this in the practice of medicine, Curmudge?”
“We know that it takes years of residency to train a specialist, but the Army is finding that their special skills begin to erode after about four months of deployment away from their specialty. (1) Thus it’s a bit of a surprise when an OB/GYN volunteers to serve a year in a battalion aid station.”
“What about the other end of the ‘forgettable’ scale? We all recall from our formal education years that information in which we had little interest was pretty transitory.”
“Julie, my retention of some courses—especially those that were required—is zilch. In fact, I suspect that when I walked out of the final exam, my brain dumped the whole course content right there in the hallway.”
“I hate to disturb your reverie, Curmudge, but how can we apply these insights to Lean training?”
“Our goal, Julie, is to impart a Lean mindset to everyone and to help them retain and use what they have learned. It’s pretty lofty, but it is expressed well in this quote from Masaaki Imai (in the 6/22/11 posting of leanblog.com), ‘engage everybody in improvement every day, everywhere in the organization.’ We’ll talk later about how to do that.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
(1) Deering, S. H., et al. Am. J. Surgery vol. 201 (May 2011)
Note: We last wrote about hardwiring three years ago (May 22, 2008). The current posting is consistent with our belief that some repetition of principles is necessary to reinforce knowledge.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Conventional Wisdom
“Curmudge, if we’re going to talk about conventional wisdom, I hope you will define it for me.”
“O course, Jaded Julie. In my view, conventional wisdom is the generally accepted knowledge about a topic at a given point in time. For example, in medieval times, the accepted way to treat an open wound was to pack it in goat dung. And until the time of Galileo, most everyone believed that the sun went around the earth once per day.”
“Wow! I’m sure glad things had changed by the time I was a child and skinned my knee.”
“Conventional wisdom can do two things; it can stagnate and become unassailable dogma, or it can evolve with the growth of knowledge. Although new knowledge in medicine seems to be slow in its adoption, we’ve seen amazing advances in our lifetime. I remain intrigued by the oft-quoted medical school professor who told entering students, ‘About half of what we teach you here will eventually be proven to be incorrect, but we don’t know which half.’ “
“What about that ‘unassailable dogma’ stuff, Curmudge? How does that come about?”
“It is easy to scare people but hard to ‘unscare’ them. When something frightens people, it is very difficult to change their view. A pertinent example is radiation. Some people fear radiation whether it’s the small amount used in medical imaging or the massive amounts confined in nuclear power plants.”
“Confess, Curmudge. Are you making this up, or do you actually know something about radiation?”
“The latter, Doubting Julie. I spent most of the summer of 1970 studying it in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Of course, during the intervening 41 years I’ve forgotten most of what I learned. And to make matters worse, the international pooh bahs changed the names of the units of measurement. So I guess the most truthful answer to your question is that I read a lot.”
“So what did you read that catalyzed your concern about radiation and conventional wisdom?”
“Well, years ago we learned that any amount of radiation—no matter how little—had the potential of causing cancer. A plot of cancer occurrence vs. exposure, based on high levels of exposure, could be extrapolated to the origin, i.e., there was no threshold below which there was no effect. This was called the ‘linear no-threshold theory’ (LNT). It was the conventional wisdom then, and over time it became dogma and even the basis of laws and regulations. Additionally, it justified the anxiety of those who were extremely fearful of all radiation.”
“Does your reading suggest, Curmudge, that the LNT theory no longer represents the consensus regarding radiation exposure?”
“That is certainly implied in several review articles published during the past ten years. Here is a typical conclusion, ‘Based on a review of epidemiological and other data for exposure to low radiation doses and dose rates, it was found that the LNT model fails badly.’ (Vaiserman) Other authors have discussed protective effects from low radiation doses, ‘Irradiated cells protect themselves (a) by immediate defense, repair, and damage removal mechanisms and (b) by delayed and temporary protection also against renewed DNA damage, irrespective of its causes—that is, through adaptive responses.’ (Tubiana, et al.)”
“But Curmudge, there have been articles in the recent scientific and popular literature suggesting that the growing use of diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans might increase the incidence of cancer. (Brenner & Hall, Landro) It sounds as if conventional wisdom is up for grabs.”
“It seems to be. Others have said: ‘There is no credible evidence to support the contention that current routine usage of CT scans in clinical settings in the United States will cause future cancers. Rather, the available data indicate that occasional exposure to diagnostic x-rays could possibly reduce the risk of future cancers among irradiated adults.’ (Scott et al.)”
“How do we resolve issues like this, Curmudge?”
“As you know, Jaded Julie, we’re not qualified to address that question. However, there is one more bit of older conventional wisdom that we should consider even though it contains regulations based on the LNT theory. It’s called ALARA, the acronym for As Low As Reasonably Achievable. Although the regulations might change, the concept is common sense: don’t expose anyone—patients, workers, or yourself—to more radiation than is absolutely essential. In the case of CT scans, one should be especially protective of children and pregnant women.”
“In your work long ago and for more recent diagnostic purposes you have been exposed to a variety of kinds of low-level radiation. Do those exposures leave you concerned?”
“I have always respected radiation and tried to minimize my exposures. However, for old geezers like me who won’t be around long enough to experience long-term effects—good or bad—from low-level radiation, this literature is just interesting to read and share.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
Literature Cited
Vaiserman, A.M. Radiation Hormesis: Historical perspective and implications for low-dose cancer risk assessment. Dose-Response 8:172-191 (2010). http://pubget.com/paper/20585444
Tubiana, M., et al. The linear no-threshold relationship is inconsistent with radiation biologic and experimental data. Radiology 251(1):13-22 (April 2009). http://radiology.rsna.org/content/251/1/13.full.pdf
Brenner, D.J. and Hall, E.J. Computed tomography—an increasing source of radiation exposure. N. Engl. J. Med. 357: 2277-2284 (2007). http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra072149
Landro, Laura. Radiation risks prompt push to curb CT scans. Wall St. J. (March 2, 2010)
Scott, B.R., et al. CT scans may reduce rather than increase the risk of cancer. J. Am. Physicians & Surgeons 13(1):8-11 (Spring 2008). http://www.jpands.org/vol13no1/scott.pdf
“O course, Jaded Julie. In my view, conventional wisdom is the generally accepted knowledge about a topic at a given point in time. For example, in medieval times, the accepted way to treat an open wound was to pack it in goat dung. And until the time of Galileo, most everyone believed that the sun went around the earth once per day.”
“Wow! I’m sure glad things had changed by the time I was a child and skinned my knee.”
“Conventional wisdom can do two things; it can stagnate and become unassailable dogma, or it can evolve with the growth of knowledge. Although new knowledge in medicine seems to be slow in its adoption, we’ve seen amazing advances in our lifetime. I remain intrigued by the oft-quoted medical school professor who told entering students, ‘About half of what we teach you here will eventually be proven to be incorrect, but we don’t know which half.’ “
“What about that ‘unassailable dogma’ stuff, Curmudge? How does that come about?”
“It is easy to scare people but hard to ‘unscare’ them. When something frightens people, it is very difficult to change their view. A pertinent example is radiation. Some people fear radiation whether it’s the small amount used in medical imaging or the massive amounts confined in nuclear power plants.”
“Confess, Curmudge. Are you making this up, or do you actually know something about radiation?”
“The latter, Doubting Julie. I spent most of the summer of 1970 studying it in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Of course, during the intervening 41 years I’ve forgotten most of what I learned. And to make matters worse, the international pooh bahs changed the names of the units of measurement. So I guess the most truthful answer to your question is that I read a lot.”
“So what did you read that catalyzed your concern about radiation and conventional wisdom?”
“Well, years ago we learned that any amount of radiation—no matter how little—had the potential of causing cancer. A plot of cancer occurrence vs. exposure, based on high levels of exposure, could be extrapolated to the origin, i.e., there was no threshold below which there was no effect. This was called the ‘linear no-threshold theory’ (LNT). It was the conventional wisdom then, and over time it became dogma and even the basis of laws and regulations. Additionally, it justified the anxiety of those who were extremely fearful of all radiation.”
“Does your reading suggest, Curmudge, that the LNT theory no longer represents the consensus regarding radiation exposure?”
“That is certainly implied in several review articles published during the past ten years. Here is a typical conclusion, ‘Based on a review of epidemiological and other data for exposure to low radiation doses and dose rates, it was found that the LNT model fails badly.’ (Vaiserman) Other authors have discussed protective effects from low radiation doses, ‘Irradiated cells protect themselves (a) by immediate defense, repair, and damage removal mechanisms and (b) by delayed and temporary protection also against renewed DNA damage, irrespective of its causes—that is, through adaptive responses.’ (Tubiana, et al.)”
“But Curmudge, there have been articles in the recent scientific and popular literature suggesting that the growing use of diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans might increase the incidence of cancer. (Brenner & Hall, Landro) It sounds as if conventional wisdom is up for grabs.”
“It seems to be. Others have said: ‘There is no credible evidence to support the contention that current routine usage of CT scans in clinical settings in the United States will cause future cancers. Rather, the available data indicate that occasional exposure to diagnostic x-rays could possibly reduce the risk of future cancers among irradiated adults.’ (Scott et al.)”
“How do we resolve issues like this, Curmudge?”
“As you know, Jaded Julie, we’re not qualified to address that question. However, there is one more bit of older conventional wisdom that we should consider even though it contains regulations based on the LNT theory. It’s called ALARA, the acronym for As Low As Reasonably Achievable. Although the regulations might change, the concept is common sense: don’t expose anyone—patients, workers, or yourself—to more radiation than is absolutely essential. In the case of CT scans, one should be especially protective of children and pregnant women.”
“In your work long ago and for more recent diagnostic purposes you have been exposed to a variety of kinds of low-level radiation. Do those exposures leave you concerned?”
“I have always respected radiation and tried to minimize my exposures. However, for old geezers like me who won’t be around long enough to experience long-term effects—good or bad—from low-level radiation, this literature is just interesting to read and share.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
Literature Cited
Vaiserman, A.M. Radiation Hormesis: Historical perspective and implications for low-dose cancer risk assessment. Dose-Response 8:172-191 (2010). http://pubget.com/paper/20585444
Tubiana, M., et al. The linear no-threshold relationship is inconsistent with radiation biologic and experimental data. Radiology 251(1):13-22 (April 2009). http://radiology.rsna.org/content/251/1/13.full.pdf
Brenner, D.J. and Hall, E.J. Computed tomography—an increasing source of radiation exposure. N. Engl. J. Med. 357: 2277-2284 (2007). http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra072149
Landro, Laura. Radiation risks prompt push to curb CT scans. Wall St. J. (March 2, 2010)
Scott, B.R., et al. CT scans may reduce rather than increase the risk of cancer. J. Am. Physicians & Surgeons 13(1):8-11 (Spring 2008). http://www.jpands.org/vol13no1/scott.pdf
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Laboratory 5
“Curmudge, at the start of our tour you said that laboratories of all sorts tend to have common characteristics, such as their need for accuracy, responsiveness, communications with clients, and keeping methods up to date.”
"That’s right, Jaded Julie, but there’s one more thing. Stress is endemic in laboratories, especially among lab managers. That’s why I appear to be in my 70’s but am only 50 years old.”
“Don’t give me that, Curmudge. You are really in your 70’s, but you appear to be 90; and you never worked in a clinical lab. In labs like the one we just visited, it’s certainly less stressful when one can be confident that results are correct and will be available when needed. How can they do that, day in and day out?”
“It’s dedicated people and good systems just like we teach in Lean. Well-trained professionals and technicians performing standard work. If a lab has those, the manager’s stress level is reduced considerably. And of course they have strict quality control protocols, which Mary Dikeman will describe to us. ‘Please tell us, Mary, how you make certain that your results are correct.’ “
“Each test has quality control (QC) samples that are run every day. These have known value ranges and that value must be produced each time, or we must find the reason for the aberration. Patient results are not reported unless the QC sample results are in the proper range. Some instruments also have calibrator samples that also assure that the instruments are working properly and the results are correct.
We also have to do proficiency testing for every test we do. We purchase sets of unknown samples 2-3 times a year and run them exactly like we run patient samples. Then we send in our results and they are graded and compared to others who perform the test. The results are reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), so they know we are proficient at what we do. If there are failures in any testing event, we have to make changes and improve for the next time, or they may take away our ability to do that test for Medicare patients.
In addition, every instrument has maintenance and monitoring procedures that are performed according to an established schedule of daily, weekly, monthly, and semi-annually. These maintenance tasks keep the instruments working well, prevent breakdowns, and maintain accuracy.”
“Years ago in my environmental lab we had to run proficiency tests, similar to what you do, for the EPA. We were always eager to learn how well we had done. One of our chemists, who happened to be of foreign origin, would complain vehemently when I didn’t share our results the moment they arrived in the mail. I think she learned her English from a drill sergeant. ‘In addition to QC, Mary, perhaps you can tell us about your sample workloads and typical turnaround times.’ “
“We average 2600 tests per day—that’s about 2000 samples. Some have multiple tests per sample. They come from inpatients, outpatients, clinics and other hospitals. Many tests are done within an hour of receipt in the lab. Some take several hours. Some noncritical tests can wait for a batch to accumulate and are run 2-3 times per week. Cultures may take 2-7 days, although TB and fungus cultures are held for 6 weeks. So you see, sometimes ASAP is dictated by how fast something is technically feasible.
The lab is staffed around the clock, with about 42 people in the various departments during the day Monday through Friday, 5-6 people working evening shift, and 2 people working night shift. However, there are fewer people in the laboratory on weekends.”
“So, Jaded Julie, do you have any questions for Mary?”
“I certainly do. If I were starting out in health care and wanted to work in a lab like yours, what sort of education and training would I need?”
“For detailed career information for Phlebotomist (6-12 months), Medical Technologist (BS degree), Medical Technician (associate degree), Cytotechnologist (BS + I yr), Histologist (associate degree + 1 yr), Pathologist (MD +specialty), visit the website of the American Society of Clinical Pathology or the College of American Pathologists.”
“We really appreciate your tour and discussions, Mary, and we now have a better understanding of the lab’s capabilities and complexity. Patients can certainly feel confident in the laboratory’s results. Nevertheless, I’ll try not to be the source of submitted specimens. Okay Julie, shall we go out for a jog?”
“Get real, Curmudge. How about a brisk walk up the stairs?”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
"That’s right, Jaded Julie, but there’s one more thing. Stress is endemic in laboratories, especially among lab managers. That’s why I appear to be in my 70’s but am only 50 years old.”
“Don’t give me that, Curmudge. You are really in your 70’s, but you appear to be 90; and you never worked in a clinical lab. In labs like the one we just visited, it’s certainly less stressful when one can be confident that results are correct and will be available when needed. How can they do that, day in and day out?”
“It’s dedicated people and good systems just like we teach in Lean. Well-trained professionals and technicians performing standard work. If a lab has those, the manager’s stress level is reduced considerably. And of course they have strict quality control protocols, which Mary Dikeman will describe to us. ‘Please tell us, Mary, how you make certain that your results are correct.’ “
“Each test has quality control (QC) samples that are run every day. These have known value ranges and that value must be produced each time, or we must find the reason for the aberration. Patient results are not reported unless the QC sample results are in the proper range. Some instruments also have calibrator samples that also assure that the instruments are working properly and the results are correct.
We also have to do proficiency testing for every test we do. We purchase sets of unknown samples 2-3 times a year and run them exactly like we run patient samples. Then we send in our results and they are graded and compared to others who perform the test. The results are reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), so they know we are proficient at what we do. If there are failures in any testing event, we have to make changes and improve for the next time, or they may take away our ability to do that test for Medicare patients.
In addition, every instrument has maintenance and monitoring procedures that are performed according to an established schedule of daily, weekly, monthly, and semi-annually. These maintenance tasks keep the instruments working well, prevent breakdowns, and maintain accuracy.”
“Years ago in my environmental lab we had to run proficiency tests, similar to what you do, for the EPA. We were always eager to learn how well we had done. One of our chemists, who happened to be of foreign origin, would complain vehemently when I didn’t share our results the moment they arrived in the mail. I think she learned her English from a drill sergeant. ‘In addition to QC, Mary, perhaps you can tell us about your sample workloads and typical turnaround times.’ “
“We average 2600 tests per day—that’s about 2000 samples. Some have multiple tests per sample. They come from inpatients, outpatients, clinics and other hospitals. Many tests are done within an hour of receipt in the lab. Some take several hours. Some noncritical tests can wait for a batch to accumulate and are run 2-3 times per week. Cultures may take 2-7 days, although TB and fungus cultures are held for 6 weeks. So you see, sometimes ASAP is dictated by how fast something is technically feasible.
The lab is staffed around the clock, with about 42 people in the various departments during the day Monday through Friday, 5-6 people working evening shift, and 2 people working night shift. However, there are fewer people in the laboratory on weekends.”
“So, Jaded Julie, do you have any questions for Mary?”
“I certainly do. If I were starting out in health care and wanted to work in a lab like yours, what sort of education and training would I need?”
“For detailed career information for Phlebotomist (6-12 months), Medical Technologist (BS degree), Medical Technician (associate degree), Cytotechnologist (BS + I yr), Histologist (associate degree + 1 yr), Pathologist (MD +specialty), visit the website of the American Society of Clinical Pathology or the College of American Pathologists.”
“We really appreciate your tour and discussions, Mary, and we now have a better understanding of the lab’s capabilities and complexity. Patients can certainly feel confident in the laboratory’s results. Nevertheless, I’ll try not to be the source of submitted specimens. Okay Julie, shall we go out for a jog?”
“Get real, Curmudge. How about a brisk walk up the stairs?”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Laboratory 4
“Today we’re going to visit Pathology, Jaded Julie. One has to be impressed with what they do here, with the pathologists dealing with life-or-death issues on a daily basis.”
“C’mon, Curmudge, you know it’s not strictly life or death. The ultimate mortality rate is 100%; everyone dies eventually. It’s more correct to say, ‘death sooner or death later.’ “
“Thanks for making my day brighter, Julie. Shall we continue our tour of the laboratory with Mary Dikeman?”
“The next three rooms are the offices of our pathologists, each with a microscope on the desk. They work closely with Histology and Cytology, and they oversee the technical aspects of the entire lab. Their normal day includes examining and describing each tissue specimen, examining slides prepared from the tissue specimens for evidence of malignancy or disease, performing analysis of frozen sections of fresh tissue sent from the operating room, conferring with surgeons and oncologists about reports, reviewing Pap smears, reviewing new and changed technical procedures. They also perform autopsies when required.
Now we will walk into the histology department. Histology is the study of the microscopic structure of organic tissues. A tissue sample, such as a gallbladder, is removed during surgery, put in a fixative and send to Histology. There the next day the pathologist examines it and describes its appearance at the large stainless steel grossing station in Histology. Then he will cut portions of it to have microscopic studies. These sections are processed overnight in two instruments that move the tissues through various solutions to prepare them to be cut into very fine slices and put on a slide. There are four microtomes at the center table in this area that are used by the histotechnicians and histology assistant to cut the tissue into fine slices for slides. Once they are affixed to the slides, they are moved to an instrument where they are stained and a glass coverslip is put over the tissue. These are the same as the bright colored tissue slides they show on the CSI or Medical Examiner TV shows. Then they are taken to a pathologist for him to examine. They look at what kinds of cells and structures are present on the tissue slide and what characteristics they have. When fresh tissue is sent to Histology for a frozen section during surgery, a portion of the tissue must be quick frozen in a cryostat and then thin slices are cut and placed on a slide. After it is stained, the pathologist examines it and calls the results to the operating room. The surgeon will then decide how to proceed with his surgery. You will notice that there are two cryostats, so there is always one available in case one is in auto defrost at the time it is needed. The histotechnicians also perform other special stains and immunohistochemical stains on tissue to help the pathologists make disease diagnoses from these slides.
Now let’s go across the hall to the Cytology processing area. Here is another laminar flow hood to protect the users when they set up possibly infectious samples. Watch the cytology assistants take the Pap smear vials and run them through the processor to make a thin layer of cells on a slide. Then they spin down body fluids in the centrifuge and process them to make a slide. The slides are stained and coverslipped on the instrument in Histology. Then the slides are put on the computerized imaging system that will survey the slides and pick out 22 fields of interest that need to be reviewed. In another room with microscopes at 3 work stations, the cytotechnologists look at and determine if there are suspicious cells present on the 22 areas or anywhere on the slide. This uses both computerized and human expertise to provide a high level of detection. Any slides that have suspicious cells are taken to the pathologists to review and diagnose.”
“I remain totally impressed, Julie. So much of this requires painstaking work by the technicians and experience and judgment by the pathologists. Diagnosis of diseases by microscopic examination of tissue specimens can be very difficult, as is the case with interstitial lung disease. Different areas of the same specimen can look different, and even experienced pathologists can disagree.”
“With your poor eyesight, Curmudge, it’s a good thing that you didn’t become a pathologist. ‘It looks as if we are nearing the end of our tour, Mary.’ ”
“ Almost, Curmudge and Julie. Across the hall is a room where there is an industrial dishwasher, large sinks and an oven. Here the lab glassware is washed and equipment kept clean by the lab aide, who also orders supplies and fills orders for lab supplies.
Near the main lab is the Point of Care office. The POC staff maintain and oversee all the bedside testing that is done across the system. Also located in this area are the MT school coordinator, the student lab and classroom. Our technologists and pathologists support a school to provide a clinical year experience for 4th year medical technology students. They receive lectures and training in the student classroom and student lab, and then are integrated into the laboratory to learn about performing tests in most areas of the lab.”
“Although our formal tour is over, let’s get together next week and do a post mortem (oops, that might not be the best term to use here) on what we have seen.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
“C’mon, Curmudge, you know it’s not strictly life or death. The ultimate mortality rate is 100%; everyone dies eventually. It’s more correct to say, ‘death sooner or death later.’ “
“Thanks for making my day brighter, Julie. Shall we continue our tour of the laboratory with Mary Dikeman?”
“The next three rooms are the offices of our pathologists, each with a microscope on the desk. They work closely with Histology and Cytology, and they oversee the technical aspects of the entire lab. Their normal day includes examining and describing each tissue specimen, examining slides prepared from the tissue specimens for evidence of malignancy or disease, performing analysis of frozen sections of fresh tissue sent from the operating room, conferring with surgeons and oncologists about reports, reviewing Pap smears, reviewing new and changed technical procedures. They also perform autopsies when required.
Now we will walk into the histology department. Histology is the study of the microscopic structure of organic tissues. A tissue sample, such as a gallbladder, is removed during surgery, put in a fixative and send to Histology. There the next day the pathologist examines it and describes its appearance at the large stainless steel grossing station in Histology. Then he will cut portions of it to have microscopic studies. These sections are processed overnight in two instruments that move the tissues through various solutions to prepare them to be cut into very fine slices and put on a slide. There are four microtomes at the center table in this area that are used by the histotechnicians and histology assistant to cut the tissue into fine slices for slides. Once they are affixed to the slides, they are moved to an instrument where they are stained and a glass coverslip is put over the tissue. These are the same as the bright colored tissue slides they show on the CSI or Medical Examiner TV shows. Then they are taken to a pathologist for him to examine. They look at what kinds of cells and structures are present on the tissue slide and what characteristics they have. When fresh tissue is sent to Histology for a frozen section during surgery, a portion of the tissue must be quick frozen in a cryostat and then thin slices are cut and placed on a slide. After it is stained, the pathologist examines it and calls the results to the operating room. The surgeon will then decide how to proceed with his surgery. You will notice that there are two cryostats, so there is always one available in case one is in auto defrost at the time it is needed. The histotechnicians also perform other special stains and immunohistochemical stains on tissue to help the pathologists make disease diagnoses from these slides.
Now let’s go across the hall to the Cytology processing area. Here is another laminar flow hood to protect the users when they set up possibly infectious samples. Watch the cytology assistants take the Pap smear vials and run them through the processor to make a thin layer of cells on a slide. Then they spin down body fluids in the centrifuge and process them to make a slide. The slides are stained and coverslipped on the instrument in Histology. Then the slides are put on the computerized imaging system that will survey the slides and pick out 22 fields of interest that need to be reviewed. In another room with microscopes at 3 work stations, the cytotechnologists look at and determine if there are suspicious cells present on the 22 areas or anywhere on the slide. This uses both computerized and human expertise to provide a high level of detection. Any slides that have suspicious cells are taken to the pathologists to review and diagnose.”
“I remain totally impressed, Julie. So much of this requires painstaking work by the technicians and experience and judgment by the pathologists. Diagnosis of diseases by microscopic examination of tissue specimens can be very difficult, as is the case with interstitial lung disease. Different areas of the same specimen can look different, and even experienced pathologists can disagree.”
“With your poor eyesight, Curmudge, it’s a good thing that you didn’t become a pathologist. ‘It looks as if we are nearing the end of our tour, Mary.’ ”
“ Almost, Curmudge and Julie. Across the hall is a room where there is an industrial dishwasher, large sinks and an oven. Here the lab glassware is washed and equipment kept clean by the lab aide, who also orders supplies and fills orders for lab supplies.
Near the main lab is the Point of Care office. The POC staff maintain and oversee all the bedside testing that is done across the system. Also located in this area are the MT school coordinator, the student lab and classroom. Our technologists and pathologists support a school to provide a clinical year experience for 4th year medical technology students. They receive lectures and training in the student classroom and student lab, and then are integrated into the laboratory to learn about performing tests in most areas of the lab.”
“Although our formal tour is over, let’s get together next week and do a post mortem (oops, that might not be the best term to use here) on what we have seen.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The Laboratory 3
“Here we are, Jaded Julie, back in Microbiology to continue our tour of the laboratory.”
“Before you forget everything, Curmudge, please tell me some of the things that you have already learned from the tour.”
“Do you remember the 1967 movie, The Graduate, in which Dustin Hoffman was advised to go into ‘plastics’?”
“The movie was before my time, but everyone knows the story.”
“Well Julie, this tour is teaching me that appropriate advice for today’s graduate would be to go into biology or perhaps automation. I’m becoming convinced that microbiology is an extremely powerful science. ‘So, Mary, continue the tour and teach me more.’ “
“Let’s move to the next area in Microbiology and see on the left an instrument that is used for Lyme disease testing. On the right is a small instrument for fetal fibronectin testing that helps tell whether a mom is at risk of early labor. You may also see the Newborn Screen cards that are sent to the State Lab to help detect more than 25 congenital conditions on all newborns, before they can affect the child. Ahead is a large table with four technologists looking at the culture media plates that were set up the day before and put in that CO2 incubator. They check each plate for growth and if there is something, they must decide whether it is important to know what it is. (Some bacteria are normally present in some areas, so they are not the 'bad guys' or pathogens.) If they need to identify some possible 'bad guy' bacteria, they might do some quick biochemical tests, or they might put the bacteria on the Vitek instrument that can perform a whole panel of tests and produce the name of the organism. This instrument will also put the bacterial organism with some dilutions of antibiotics and test what antibiotics will likely be effective in treating that infection. These identification and antibiotic results may be available in 5-12 hours. The results are passed to the Meditech computer system by an interface from the instrument. You will notice several microscopes in this area, since determining if bacteria are gram positive ( blue) or gram negative(red), or shaped like rods or round cocci is the important first step toward identification.
Across the room is another large incubator to keep the culture media and other tests warm for 2-7 more days. Next to that is a large Plexiglas box with a side chamber and access door. This is the anaerobic chamber. Some important bacteria called anaerobes are unique from other bacteria and do not like to be in the presence of oxygen. This chamber removes most of the oxygen and replaces it with a high nitrogen gas mixture that makes them happy. Cultures from deep systemic areas of the body may be checked for anaerobic bacteria. The specimens are put to special culture media and incubated in the anaerobic chamber for many days. The technologist puts their hands into the box through portholes with sleeves and examines the cultures. If anaerobes are present, they have certain growth characteristics that help identify them.
Off to the back is a small closet-like room, called the dark room. There is a fluorescent microscope in there, which is best used in a dark surrounding. Special fluorescent stains are used here to detect ANA antibodies, Cryptosporidia, and Giardia.
Let’s go out the back door and across the hallway to the very clean (smell the bleach) Molecular room. Here is where DNA amplification and target signal amplification are used to detect Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and HPV. In the next room is the area where Parasitology and Mycology (fungus) work is done. There is also a large laminar flow hood in this area for the fungus culture work to keep the fungus spores away from the people. So that fungus is not among us! A smaller incubator contains the fungus cultures; they require a lower temperature and special media for optimal conditions to grow.”
“As I was saying, Julie, microbiologists do really important work. They are certainly more than ‘little biologists.’ When I was a kid, microbiology might not have been part of a clinical lab, if such labs even existed then. Of course, it didn’t require a microbiologist to diagnose the ugly impetigo sore on my knee.”
“You told me that years ago engineers in industry used simple microbiology to identify the filamentous bacteria that hampered the operation of waste treatment plants. The science has come a long way since then.”
“And we’ll go a short way out the door and to the right. The next room on the right is the pathology transcription area. You will find two transcriptionists who handle the clerical work for the Cytology and Histology departments. They transcribe dictated reports from the pathologists, register client patients, and order tests.
The next room is the office for the two laboratory information system coordinators. They handle problems and changes to the lab computer module, some lab billing issues, and lab quality matters across our lab system.”
“Speaking of pathology, that’s the part of the lab that we’ll visit next week. Don’t forget to come, Julie.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
“Before you forget everything, Curmudge, please tell me some of the things that you have already learned from the tour.”
“Do you remember the 1967 movie, The Graduate, in which Dustin Hoffman was advised to go into ‘plastics’?”
“The movie was before my time, but everyone knows the story.”
“Well Julie, this tour is teaching me that appropriate advice for today’s graduate would be to go into biology or perhaps automation. I’m becoming convinced that microbiology is an extremely powerful science. ‘So, Mary, continue the tour and teach me more.’ “
“Let’s move to the next area in Microbiology and see on the left an instrument that is used for Lyme disease testing. On the right is a small instrument for fetal fibronectin testing that helps tell whether a mom is at risk of early labor. You may also see the Newborn Screen cards that are sent to the State Lab to help detect more than 25 congenital conditions on all newborns, before they can affect the child. Ahead is a large table with four technologists looking at the culture media plates that were set up the day before and put in that CO2 incubator. They check each plate for growth and if there is something, they must decide whether it is important to know what it is. (Some bacteria are normally present in some areas, so they are not the 'bad guys' or pathogens.) If they need to identify some possible 'bad guy' bacteria, they might do some quick biochemical tests, or they might put the bacteria on the Vitek instrument that can perform a whole panel of tests and produce the name of the organism. This instrument will also put the bacterial organism with some dilutions of antibiotics and test what antibiotics will likely be effective in treating that infection. These identification and antibiotic results may be available in 5-12 hours. The results are passed to the Meditech computer system by an interface from the instrument. You will notice several microscopes in this area, since determining if bacteria are gram positive ( blue) or gram negative(red), or shaped like rods or round cocci is the important first step toward identification.
Across the room is another large incubator to keep the culture media and other tests warm for 2-7 more days. Next to that is a large Plexiglas box with a side chamber and access door. This is the anaerobic chamber. Some important bacteria called anaerobes are unique from other bacteria and do not like to be in the presence of oxygen. This chamber removes most of the oxygen and replaces it with a high nitrogen gas mixture that makes them happy. Cultures from deep systemic areas of the body may be checked for anaerobic bacteria. The specimens are put to special culture media and incubated in the anaerobic chamber for many days. The technologist puts their hands into the box through portholes with sleeves and examines the cultures. If anaerobes are present, they have certain growth characteristics that help identify them.
Off to the back is a small closet-like room, called the dark room. There is a fluorescent microscope in there, which is best used in a dark surrounding. Special fluorescent stains are used here to detect ANA antibodies, Cryptosporidia, and Giardia.
Let’s go out the back door and across the hallway to the very clean (smell the bleach) Molecular room. Here is where DNA amplification and target signal amplification are used to detect Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and HPV. In the next room is the area where Parasitology and Mycology (fungus) work is done. There is also a large laminar flow hood in this area for the fungus culture work to keep the fungus spores away from the people. So that fungus is not among us! A smaller incubator contains the fungus cultures; they require a lower temperature and special media for optimal conditions to grow.”
“As I was saying, Julie, microbiologists do really important work. They are certainly more than ‘little biologists.’ When I was a kid, microbiology might not have been part of a clinical lab, if such labs even existed then. Of course, it didn’t require a microbiologist to diagnose the ugly impetigo sore on my knee.”
“You told me that years ago engineers in industry used simple microbiology to identify the filamentous bacteria that hampered the operation of waste treatment plants. The science has come a long way since then.”
“And we’ll go a short way out the door and to the right. The next room on the right is the pathology transcription area. You will find two transcriptionists who handle the clerical work for the Cytology and Histology departments. They transcribe dictated reports from the pathologists, register client patients, and order tests.
The next room is the office for the two laboratory information system coordinators. They handle problems and changes to the lab computer module, some lab billing issues, and lab quality matters across our lab system.”
“Speaking of pathology, that’s the part of the lab that we’ll visit next week. Don’t forget to come, Julie.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Laboratory 2
“Here we are, back in the basement of St. E’s. Whenever I come down here I fear that some day I’ll ask about you and the answer will be, ‘Oh, Curmudge is over there in the morgue.’ “
“Don’t worry, Jaded Julie. If I’m there I’ll be in good hands. I have a friend who drives a hearse for a local funeral home. She often comes down here to pick up ‘clients.’ Shall we continue our laboratory tour with Mary Dikeman?“
“Now we leave the Blood Bank and head into the area where urines are examined, fecal occult blood tests and pregnancy tests are done. Good thing they keep it so clean or it could become very odiferous very easily! In the back aisle is the large Coulter instrument that does the CBCs—Complete Blood Counts—and also the microscopes used when a manual differential is required. And there is another smaller instrument that serves as backup to the CBC instrument; so important to have a backup so that CBCs can still be done even if the Coulter is having a time out to have maintenance done. There are an average of 100 CBCs done each day. Across the aisle are the two instruments that are used for Coagulation tests, such as PT, PTT; again there is a backup for the testing.
We continue around the corner and see a large screen that lists pending stat tests and how long they have been waiting. Turn to the right toward the Chemistry Department and see the two blood gas instruments where arterial blood gases are run. Straight ahead are the workhorses in the lab, the chemistry instruments that do the chem panels. The instruments are each the size of a small VW Beetle. Again there is two of each instrument that run different tests, but they can be the backup to each other in case one is not working. On average, about 200 chem panels are run each day. There are also two very large instruments that do hormone testing, cardiac testing, thyroid testing, and other specialty tests. These instruments pass the results to the lab Meditech computer via an electronic interface.”
“You must have noticed, Curmudge, that the lab seems to have two of each of the most critical instruments. They can’t afford to have a request for an essential test ‘stat’ and have to respond that the instrument is ‘down’ for maintenance.”
“ ‘Stat’ is another one of those medical terms that is not obvious to every layperson. It’s like ordering a gelato in Italy, and the waiter says ‘subito’ and brings the ice cream immediately.”
“Around the back corner there is the ECI instrument that does troponins (to diagnose a suspected heart attack), hepatitis and HIV testing. Also in that area are the Variant instrument that does hemoglobin A1C testing (to diagnose and manage diabetes) and the protein electrophoresis instrument that uses electric current to separate proteins in serum or spinal fluid. Testing for lead in patient’s blood takes place on the back counter in this area. Lead poisoning is still a problem in our community. You also notice the Plexiglas-covered instrument that is used for vitamin D, varicella, mumps and rubeola testing. The medical technologists and technicians (also ASCP certified) rotate through the operation of these instruments. You will notice the wall is completely covered by refrigerators and freezers that store reagents for the chemistry tests.
Now let’s walk past the lab office, which is the central area for clerical business and the lab secretary, and into the Microbiology area. On the left is the blood culture instrument that incubates the BC bottles and takes a reading every 10 minutes. It looks for an increase in CO2 production that would indicate the presence of bacteria. On the right are a long counter and a Plexiglas front cabinet. Watch the technologists put their hands under the opening to the cabinet and put the culture specimens onto the culture media. There is airflow that will capture any stray bacteria and pull them away to a filter, so the technologist/technician is protected from infection. Once the culture media is inoculated with the specimen (such as urine, sputum, wounds, throat), the media is placed into the large refrigerator-like box. This incubator is kept at a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, which is close to the human body temperature that bacteria like to grow in. It also has 5% CO2 gas pumped into it to really make the bacteria happy so they will replicate while in the incubator. In 8-24 hours they will have multiplied hundreds of times and formed colonies of bacteria that are 1-2 mm in size. In this room, the rapid tests for influenza, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), strep, rotavirus and Clostridium difficile are performed, and there is a microscope for looking at gram stains of the specimens that came in.”
“I must admit, Julie, that many of the tests performed in Mary’s lab are new to me; and they might be fairly new to the lab. For example, their vitamin D testing was started in the fall of 2010. Not only must a hospital lab be responsive and accurate; it must stay up to date. When a test is developed that can answer a critical diagnosis question, the laboratory needs to be able to do it. Of course, if the test is not requested often and the results not needed ‘stat,’ it can be sent out to a so-called reference lab.”
I’m impressed by the measures taken by the lab to protect the technicians from infection. We wrote about C. difficile on February 5, 2009, and I still shudder when I think of it.”
“You can shudder for a whole week, Julie. Mary has other work to do, so let’s continue our lab tour in the next posting.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
“Don’t worry, Jaded Julie. If I’m there I’ll be in good hands. I have a friend who drives a hearse for a local funeral home. She often comes down here to pick up ‘clients.’ Shall we continue our laboratory tour with Mary Dikeman?“
“Now we leave the Blood Bank and head into the area where urines are examined, fecal occult blood tests and pregnancy tests are done. Good thing they keep it so clean or it could become very odiferous very easily! In the back aisle is the large Coulter instrument that does the CBCs—Complete Blood Counts—and also the microscopes used when a manual differential is required. And there is another smaller instrument that serves as backup to the CBC instrument; so important to have a backup so that CBCs can still be done even if the Coulter is having a time out to have maintenance done. There are an average of 100 CBCs done each day. Across the aisle are the two instruments that are used for Coagulation tests, such as PT, PTT; again there is a backup for the testing.
We continue around the corner and see a large screen that lists pending stat tests and how long they have been waiting. Turn to the right toward the Chemistry Department and see the two blood gas instruments where arterial blood gases are run. Straight ahead are the workhorses in the lab, the chemistry instruments that do the chem panels. The instruments are each the size of a small VW Beetle. Again there is two of each instrument that run different tests, but they can be the backup to each other in case one is not working. On average, about 200 chem panels are run each day. There are also two very large instruments that do hormone testing, cardiac testing, thyroid testing, and other specialty tests. These instruments pass the results to the lab Meditech computer via an electronic interface.”
“You must have noticed, Curmudge, that the lab seems to have two of each of the most critical instruments. They can’t afford to have a request for an essential test ‘stat’ and have to respond that the instrument is ‘down’ for maintenance.”
“ ‘Stat’ is another one of those medical terms that is not obvious to every layperson. It’s like ordering a gelato in Italy, and the waiter says ‘subito’ and brings the ice cream immediately.”
“Around the back corner there is the ECI instrument that does troponins (to diagnose a suspected heart attack), hepatitis and HIV testing. Also in that area are the Variant instrument that does hemoglobin A1C testing (to diagnose and manage diabetes) and the protein electrophoresis instrument that uses electric current to separate proteins in serum or spinal fluid. Testing for lead in patient’s blood takes place on the back counter in this area. Lead poisoning is still a problem in our community. You also notice the Plexiglas-covered instrument that is used for vitamin D, varicella, mumps and rubeola testing. The medical technologists and technicians (also ASCP certified) rotate through the operation of these instruments. You will notice the wall is completely covered by refrigerators and freezers that store reagents for the chemistry tests.
Now let’s walk past the lab office, which is the central area for clerical business and the lab secretary, and into the Microbiology area. On the left is the blood culture instrument that incubates the BC bottles and takes a reading every 10 minutes. It looks for an increase in CO2 production that would indicate the presence of bacteria. On the right are a long counter and a Plexiglas front cabinet. Watch the technologists put their hands under the opening to the cabinet and put the culture specimens onto the culture media. There is airflow that will capture any stray bacteria and pull them away to a filter, so the technologist/technician is protected from infection. Once the culture media is inoculated with the specimen (such as urine, sputum, wounds, throat), the media is placed into the large refrigerator-like box. This incubator is kept at a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, which is close to the human body temperature that bacteria like to grow in. It also has 5% CO2 gas pumped into it to really make the bacteria happy so they will replicate while in the incubator. In 8-24 hours they will have multiplied hundreds of times and formed colonies of bacteria that are 1-2 mm in size. In this room, the rapid tests for influenza, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), strep, rotavirus and Clostridium difficile are performed, and there is a microscope for looking at gram stains of the specimens that came in.”
“I must admit, Julie, that many of the tests performed in Mary’s lab are new to me; and they might be fairly new to the lab. For example, their vitamin D testing was started in the fall of 2010. Not only must a hospital lab be responsive and accurate; it must stay up to date. When a test is developed that can answer a critical diagnosis question, the laboratory needs to be able to do it. Of course, if the test is not requested often and the results not needed ‘stat,’ it can be sent out to a so-called reference lab.”
I’m impressed by the measures taken by the lab to protect the technicians from infection. We wrote about C. difficile on February 5, 2009, and I still shudder when I think of it.”
“You can shudder for a whole week, Julie. Mary has other work to do, so let’s continue our lab tour in the next posting.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Laboratory
“Hey, Jaded Julie, we’re going to leave the crystal ball and talk about the hospital laboratory.”
“Curmudge, when you see a modern lab, you’ll think that everything in your crystal ball had already happened.”
“Some things don’t change, Julie. While clients tend to take them for granted, labs of all types have always needed to demonstrate excellent accuracy and responsiveness. And here’s another example: My industrial labs used to solve people’s problems, while clinical labs provide more than 70% of the data used by physicians to manage patient diagnosis and treatment.”
“If we are going to talk about laboratories, we should probably begin at the beginning—with the patient. My years of experience with this blog tell me that the curtain is about to go up on another of our Curmudge-and-Julie theatricals. I might as well roll up my sleeve.”
“You are going to play the patient, Julie, and here comes a phlebotomist to draw some of your blood”
“To a phlebotomist, the world consists of two kinds of people, ‘hard sticks’ and ‘easy sticks.’ Fortunately I’m an easy stick…see, that didn’t hurt a bit. My blood was drawn into little evacuated tubes labeled with my name, date of birth, specimen number, and a bar code. Of course, before starting the procedure, the phlebotomist asked me to recite my last name and birth date to be certain she had the right patient. She also smiled at me, introduced herself, and gave me an empty cup to take into the ladies’ room.”
“Here we are in the hospital basement, Julie. The morgue, down that hall, is not going to be part of our tour. When the lab was expanded a few years ago, it was relocated down here. Design of the laboratory’s space—to increase efficiency and reduce wasted motion—was one of the hospital’s first Lean projects. Our guide through the lab will be Mary Dikeman, Laboratory Manager.”
“It’s a good thing that you aren’t the guide, Curmudge. You never knew much about clinical labs, and what you did know is 40 years out of date. ‘Good morning, Mary. Thank you for taking time to show us around.’”
“Welcome to our laboratory, Julie and Curmudge. Most people don’t know how large the laboratory is and how many interesting things go on here. This is a walk through St. Elizabeth Laboratory, but it describes some of the same things that go on at any of the hospital labs.
So come on in the front door to Specimen Processing; be mindful of the phlebotomists with their carts leaving the lab to go draw blood from patients. And here comes a courier with a cart full of coolers that contain specimens from other clinics and hospitals. Once in the lab you will notice the technologists and support service technicians are emptying the coolers and then ‘receive’ each specimen in the computer; this tracks the movement of the specimens from site to site. These are sorted and then delivered to the departments such as Chemistry, Hematology, Blood Bank, Microbiology, Cytology, and Histology that will perform the testing. Located in Specimen Processing, the pneumatic tube system also brings specimens to the lab. Centrifuges sit on the counter and are used to spin and separate the cells from the liquid in some of the blood tubes when the tests require serum or plasma instead of whole blood.”
“As we go through the lab, Julie, please notice how important computers are for everything from sample tracking to operating many of the instruments. In my environmental lab, 20 years ago, all we had was Lotus 1-2-3 for sample log-in.”
“And for an old chemist like you, Curmudge, I’d better help Mary by defining some of her terms. Cytology is the study of cells, and histology is the study of tissues.”
“Regrettably, from the experience of my late wife, I have learned a bit about histopathology. “
“Okay, visitors, let’s move on to the right and head into the Blood Bank area. Here you may see boxes that held blood products that were delivered from the Community Blood Center. On the left is a Medical Technologist that has certification from the American Society for Clinical Pathology [MT(ASCP)] that is doing blood typings and cross matches to see what unit of blood will be the best match for the surgery patient. There is an instrument that uses a gel technology to help determine the antibodies that are important to finding a good blood match.
Notice the large refrigerator that holds all the blood bags and blood products. It has a special temperature recording chart that is so important to keeping the blood at the proper temperature at all times to keep it safe. There is also equipment used to prepare platelets for transfusion.”
“All I know about my blood is that it is type A-negative.”
“And Curmudge, it’s being pumped through your ancient circulatory system at glacial speed. Let’s take a break and return next week to continue the tour with Mary.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
“Curmudge, when you see a modern lab, you’ll think that everything in your crystal ball had already happened.”
“Some things don’t change, Julie. While clients tend to take them for granted, labs of all types have always needed to demonstrate excellent accuracy and responsiveness. And here’s another example: My industrial labs used to solve people’s problems, while clinical labs provide more than 70% of the data used by physicians to manage patient diagnosis and treatment.”
“If we are going to talk about laboratories, we should probably begin at the beginning—with the patient. My years of experience with this blog tell me that the curtain is about to go up on another of our Curmudge-and-Julie theatricals. I might as well roll up my sleeve.”
“You are going to play the patient, Julie, and here comes a phlebotomist to draw some of your blood”
“To a phlebotomist, the world consists of two kinds of people, ‘hard sticks’ and ‘easy sticks.’ Fortunately I’m an easy stick…see, that didn’t hurt a bit. My blood was drawn into little evacuated tubes labeled with my name, date of birth, specimen number, and a bar code. Of course, before starting the procedure, the phlebotomist asked me to recite my last name and birth date to be certain she had the right patient. She also smiled at me, introduced herself, and gave me an empty cup to take into the ladies’ room.”
“Here we are in the hospital basement, Julie. The morgue, down that hall, is not going to be part of our tour. When the lab was expanded a few years ago, it was relocated down here. Design of the laboratory’s space—to increase efficiency and reduce wasted motion—was one of the hospital’s first Lean projects. Our guide through the lab will be Mary Dikeman, Laboratory Manager.”
“It’s a good thing that you aren’t the guide, Curmudge. You never knew much about clinical labs, and what you did know is 40 years out of date. ‘Good morning, Mary. Thank you for taking time to show us around.’”
“Welcome to our laboratory, Julie and Curmudge. Most people don’t know how large the laboratory is and how many interesting things go on here. This is a walk through St. Elizabeth Laboratory, but it describes some of the same things that go on at any of the hospital labs.
So come on in the front door to Specimen Processing; be mindful of the phlebotomists with their carts leaving the lab to go draw blood from patients. And here comes a courier with a cart full of coolers that contain specimens from other clinics and hospitals. Once in the lab you will notice the technologists and support service technicians are emptying the coolers and then ‘receive’ each specimen in the computer; this tracks the movement of the specimens from site to site. These are sorted and then delivered to the departments such as Chemistry, Hematology, Blood Bank, Microbiology, Cytology, and Histology that will perform the testing. Located in Specimen Processing, the pneumatic tube system also brings specimens to the lab. Centrifuges sit on the counter and are used to spin and separate the cells from the liquid in some of the blood tubes when the tests require serum or plasma instead of whole blood.”
“As we go through the lab, Julie, please notice how important computers are for everything from sample tracking to operating many of the instruments. In my environmental lab, 20 years ago, all we had was Lotus 1-2-3 for sample log-in.”
“And for an old chemist like you, Curmudge, I’d better help Mary by defining some of her terms. Cytology is the study of cells, and histology is the study of tissues.”
“Regrettably, from the experience of my late wife, I have learned a bit about histopathology. “
“Okay, visitors, let’s move on to the right and head into the Blood Bank area. Here you may see boxes that held blood products that were delivered from the Community Blood Center. On the left is a Medical Technologist that has certification from the American Society for Clinical Pathology [MT(ASCP)] that is doing blood typings and cross matches to see what unit of blood will be the best match for the surgery patient. There is an instrument that uses a gel technology to help determine the antibodies that are important to finding a good blood match.
Notice the large refrigerator that holds all the blood bags and blood products. It has a special temperature recording chart that is so important to keeping the blood at the proper temperature at all times to keep it safe. There is also equipment used to prepare platelets for transfusion.”
“All I know about my blood is that it is type A-negative.”
“And Curmudge, it’s being pumped through your ancient circulatory system at glacial speed. Let’s take a break and return next week to continue the tour with Mary.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
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