Pathology Associates of Spokane, USA, is the grand prize winner in the Artel Pipetting Olympics held during US National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week
Artel's contest challenged clinical laboratory technicians to test their pipetting skills against colleagues and other laboratories in teams of at least ten technicians.
Described as a fun, team-building event, the Pipetting Olympics also has an important objective - improving pipetting skills.
Pipetting is a critical laboratory process and pipetting technique has a direct effect on laboratory test results (accuracy), consistency (precision) and efficiency.
These factors are directly tied to patient test results and diagnoses.
In pipetting, a low CV% corresponds to high precision, and is something that every laboratory technician seeks to attain.
With the lowest average CV of 0.32%, Pathology Associates edged out 25 other participating laboratories.
The Pathology Associates team was followed closely by Pathlab (Council Bluffs, IA) and Kaiser Permanente Regional Lab (North Hollywood, CA) in second and third places, respectively.
The difference in CV% between the first and third place teams was only 0.16%.
Pathology Associates will receive a team gold medal and a $300 team lunch.
The Artel Pipetting Olympics was held in conjunction with the American Society of Clinical Pathology's (ASCP) National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, an event that recognizes the vital contribution of laboratory professionals to the healthcare industry.
Technician pipetting skills were tested at participating laboratories using Artel's PCS (pipette calibration system).
Facilities not owning a PCS were loaned a system for the duration of the contest.
Artel also provided training documents, and personal coaching as requested, regarding proper pipetting technique, with pointers such as prewetting the tip and maintaining even plunger pressure.
Because the PCS provides immediate data and feedback on the volume dispensed by the operator and his/her pipette, participating laboratories were able to tune up their technicians' skill levels and manage their Pipetting Olympics competitions in a short time frame.
The automatically printed documentation showing accuracy and precision for each participant was sent to Artel for compilation and comparison with all other participating teams.
Individual gold medals were awarded to technicians with CVs of up to 0.19%, silver medals to those between 0.20% and 0.49%, and bronze medals to those between 0.50% and 1.00%.
A total of 172 individual medals were awarded including six gold medals, 75 silver medals and 91 bronze medals.
The six gold medal winners are in the top 1% of pipetters nationally.
35 laboratories and over 500 people participated in Artel's 2006 Pipetting Olympics.
Kaiser Permanente led in participation with 20 technicians submitting Pipetting Olympic scores.
Artel will also hold individual and team Pipetting Olympics at the AACC/Clinical Lab Expo show, to take place July 25-27, 2006 in Chicago, USA.
