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Interestingly enough, we perform over 3 million total tests per year , and we have a menu of literally hundreds of different tests that we can perform, all right here in our Lab at CMC. We concentrate on the tests that are high volume, fast turnaround time tests to perform on a daily and as-needed basis, and the lower volume tests we batch and run several times a week. We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days-a-week, 365 days a year.
With the constant advancements in technology, we are always investigating the fastest, highest quality means of performing these tests.
Just like hospitals in general, the clinical Laboratory is one of most regulated and inspected industries in the country. We are inspected at least annually by some regulatory agency, from the NJ State Dept. of Health to the FDA to the Joint Commission on Accreditation. Our main certification body is the College of American Pathologists, which is a peer-inspection agency with extremely strict quality guidelines all the way from having enough space to perform the testing to the personnel performing the testing. We also perform required proficiency testing on a regular basis, which involves receiving and testing blind samples for all of our tests. These results are then evaluated for accuracy. Laboratories falling out of compliance with these blind tests are required to cease testing in these areas until they can prove they are compliant again. We are proud to say our Laboratory has never found ourselves in that situation.
When a patient has their blood drawn for testing, they have to have the request for that test in the form of a prescription ordering it from their physician. We register the patient and order those tests in such a manner that the physician ordering the tests automatically receive their copy via a fax, a printer right in their offices, or in their mailbox depending on how quickly they needed it and/ or how they requested to receive it.
Patients have the legal right to have a copy of their own results, if they so desire. Because we are so concerned with protecting the patient’s right to confidentiality, we have very strict requirements before giving out results. First, patients must physically come to the Lab to request and receive their results. Secondly, they must sign a release form and provide positive identification that they are the patient. We do release results to representatives that may have power of attorney for a patient. We cannot release results to next-of-kin or the parents of minors; those results must be received directly from the physician.
Our Lab at Community has over 140 associates employed in it, performing a variety of jobs from the support areas to the Professional areas. At the very “top” we have licensed physicians who have specialized in Laboratory Medicine called Pathologists. They oversee and perform the clinical interpretations associated with biopsies, surgical specimens received from the OR, and specialized testing physicians use to diagnose a variety of diseases.
At the testing level we have registered Medical Technologists, Medical Laboratory Technologists, Histotechnologists, and Cytotechnologists. These associates have attained either a Baccalaureate or Associates-level degree in Science, and participated in a one-year internship in an accredited Laboratory to learn their discipline. Our associates at this level know all the theories, principles, practical knowledge and nuances needed to ensure the quality and proficiency required to perform these tests are never compromised. At another level are our Computer analysts who insure that the information and communication systems we have in place are functioning correctly. These associates are also trained Laboratory professionals, which is essential since they have to “know” how a Laboratory functions operationally so that support is timely.
At the support level are our associates specifically trained in performing the Phlebotomy required to obtain the samples from our patients. These individuals all receive education beyond the secondary level specifically from a Technical school who specializes in teaching and certifying these skills. We also have Client Services representatives who are trained in test order entry and supporting clerical functions, and transcriptionists who take the verbal descriptions of the biopsy and surgical specimen results determined by the Pathologists and transcribe them into the written reports that physicians actually use.
Whether or not a test is performed on an emergency basis or not, commonly called “STAT” testing, is totally dependent on the emergent need of the physician to have those results to facilitate immediate care to their patient, and our Laboratory’s ability to deliver those results in a timeframe that the physician needs. We currently can perform over 75 tests in a timeframe that supports the potential “life-or-death” decision making a physician sometimes can find themselves in.
There are many factors influencing how quickly any Lab can perform a test; some are instrumentation-dependent, but most are actually test-dependent. Some tests just simply because of the nature of the chemical, blood component, or microorganism you are looking for require long processing or incubation times.
As stated earlier, we have a large breadth of tests we can actually perform right here in our own Lab. And yes, even some of the “serious” ones you read about such as HIV and Hepatitis. Some tests, however, we are required to send to a State Laboratory due to the public-health nature of them, others we must send to a larger commercial reference Lab just due to the particular technical nature of the test.
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How many different tests does the Lab do, and where do we do them ?
What kind of jobs are available in the Lab ?