Clinical labs receive thousands of samples a day for accessioning, processing, and reporting. The ability to track and trace samples throughout their journey within the lab is a significant concern for clinical laboratories. This can be challenging especially when samples require processing in separate locations of the lab or in some cases different geographic locations. This leads to samples exchanging hands several times before arriving at their final destination. Even with strict standard operating procedures (SOPs), samples can get lost, especially if labs are relying on manual or fragmented systems.
Ensuring samples are correctly handled and tracked is crucial for maintaining the lab’s service quality and reputation. Sample collection and transportation, accessioning, labeling, chain of custody, data integrity, audit trails and sample lineage are critical components of this process. Effective sample tracking ensures that your business has full visibility of the sample status, location, history, and progress in real-time. This is essential to the integrity and reliability of test results.
We’ve identified four key factors that contribute to lost samples along with some practical solutions for addressing them:
Manual Accessioning Errors
When samples are accessioned manually, it introduces opportunities for human error such as incorrect data entry, sample identification, registration, or mislabeling. These errors can result in samples getting sent to the wrong testing area, being attributed to the wrong patient, or simply getting misplaced as they move between different sections of the lab.
Solution: An open LIMS platform with digitized and automated sample registration, accessioning, and order processing.
Digital accessioning can electronically register and log patient samples into a LIMS upon receipt, through barcodes, QR codes, or RFID tags that uniquely identify it. This ensures that each sample is uniquely identified and linked to the correct patient and test order. LIMS can also support the digital handling and management of test orders—from entry into the system to assigning the appropriate laboratory tests and routing results to the relevant departments for analysis.
Chain of Custody Failures
The chain of custody ensures that the results linked to each sample are accurate. Chain of custody begins the moment a sample is collected. This includes detailed documentation of sample collection, labeling, and transport, followed by accessioning in the lab, sample processing, and analysis. Breakdowns in chain of custody can happen with manual logging and labeling and in the absence of real-time tracking. Without a reliable chain of custody, verifying that samples have been managed correctly throughout their lifecycle is challenging. This can lead to difficulties in identifying and resolving issues such as locating a missing sample or investigating discrepancies in test results.
Solution: Automatic Sample Lineage & Chain of Custody
The LIMS platform can maintain sample lineage, including its source and any transformations or handling it has undergone during its lifecycle in a lab. This can include the documentation of where the sample came from, how it was processed and modified, and where it has been within the lab’s workflow. As a sample continues its journey and is sectioned and distributed, the LIMS maintains a detailed chain of custody to track the control, transfer, and analysis of a sample from collection to final disposition
Absence of Real-Time Data Tracking
Manual or siloed processes can make it difficult to track samples in real-time, leading to delays in identifying where samples are in the workflow. This lack of visibility can hinder the ability to prioritize urgent cases, identify bottlenecks, or provide feedback to physician clinics on result status and test completion dates. Issues with real-time sample tracking can be hindered by several factors including lack of automation, outdated or unreliable software, inconsistent use of SOPs, and poor integration of systems from different departments that can’t effectively communicate well with each other.
Solution: Real-Time Sample Tracking and Automation
Automated LIMS systems enable real-time tracking of each sample’s location and status as it moves through various stages of processing, analysis, and storage. By providing real-time test reporting, these systems help prevent issues like misplacement, delays, or the loss of samples and reports, ensuring physicians receive timely and accurate results. LIMS also enhances front-end sample tracking by pre-registering test kits and managing their shipping to patients. On the back end, it can trigger additional testing based on initial results, eliminating the need for manual interventions. These improvements not only strengthen sample traceability but also contribute to faster turnaround times.
Inconsistent Tracking Systems
When different departments or teams within a lab use varied methods or technologies it can lead to breakdowns in communication and gaps in the chain of custody. The repeat offenders here include manual systems, fragmented systems that don’t integrate well, and inconsistent SOPs that are not shared well interdepartmentally. This makes maintaining a comprehensive record of sample handling and movement within the lab challenging. Tracking who handled the sample, what tests were performed, and where the sample was at any given time is often fragmented. This lack of continuity can lead to gaps in the sample’s history, making it difficult to ensure complete traceability and accountability for results reporting and audits.
Solution: Cross-Departmental and Geographic Location Tracking
Since a sample’s journey is often complex—it can be sectioned, divided, and distributed to different departments and/or redirected to different locations or instruments for processing using specialized workflows—maintaining a bird’s-eye view of its progress is essential. Zooming in and out of different departmental tracking information must be possible to ensure samples are processed efficiently. Sapio LIMS offers real-time sample traceability by providing a comprehensive, up-to-the-minute view of each sample’s location, status, and history throughout its lifecycle in the laboratory. This capability ensures precise tracking and minimizes errors.
Introducing Sapio LIMS for Clinical Diagnostics
Sapio LIMS for Clinical Diagnostics is specifically designed to address the complex needs of clinical and molecular diagnostic laboratories. It provides a comprehensive, open, and configurable platform that tracks samples in real-time, unifies test data, automates workflows, and enhances diagnostic accuracy. It supports compliance needs and drives better outcomes, turnaround times, and operational efficiency. Our platform provides:
Real-Time Sample Traceability
Ensure real-time sample tracking and traceability, and efficiently manage large volumes of clinical and molecular diagnostic data with Sapio LIMS, offering secure storage, easy retrieval, and seamless integration across laboratory systems.
Unified Data and Reporting
Automate complex laboratory workflows to reduce manual errors, speed up processing times, and increase productivity, allowing lab professionals to focus on critical tasks.
Configurable No-Code Workflow
Sapio LIMS supports compliance with industry standards and regulations, provides robust auditing capabilities, and ensures all processes adhere to applicable standards and guidelines.
Built-In Regulatory Compliance
A no-code LIMS minimizes human errors in record-keeping by providing built-in validation rules and automated data entry processes. This leads to more accurate data, which is crucial for maintaining compliance and ensuring that records stand up to scrutiny during audits. It can also generate audit reports that comply with regulatory standards, reducing the burden on lab personnel. Visit our clinical diagnostics LIMS page to learn more and to get a demo of the Sapio platform.
