Heritage Valley Health System, located in Beaver, Pennsylvania, recently opened its region’s first fully automated clinical laboratory.

The hospital’s comprehensive lean and Six Sigma programs, which emphasize automation for patient safety, helped create the state-of-the-art laboratory, say Rosemary Nolan and Daniel H. Brooks, the hospital’s chief operating officers. The lab’s new equipment will significantly improve turnaround time and patient safety by automating the testing and distribution processes.

“Many people are unaware that 60 to 80 percent of the data in a patient’s clinical record is related to laboratory testing,” says Shelly Lewis, director of laboratory services. “This technology will provide a safer environment for our staff, speed up the testing process, virtually eliminate the potential for errors and improve laboratory efficiency.”

For more information, visit www.heritagevalley.org/Media/Releases/2007_0214a.aspx.

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