As more hospital laboratories implement 24-hour shift systems, there is growing pressure on diagnostics suppliers to adapt to meet their needs
As more and more hospital laboratories move away from traditional working patterns to implement 24-hour shift systems, there is growing pressure on diagnostics suppliers to adapt to meet their needs.
Recognising this, Bayer Diagnostics has now implemented a wide range of 'added-value' services in support of continuous laboratory processing.
Acknowledging that each customer's working patterns are different, Bayer offers a choice of flexible instrument service options that allow laboratories to specify their own individually tailored service packages.
The options include preventative maintenance visits from field engineers at pre-arranged quiet times and extended emergency cover outside the hours of 09.00-17.00.
During the 'core' working period of 09:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, Bayer offers a fully staffed helpdesk facility allowing immediate access to trained support personnel who will endeavour to resolve reported problems over the telephone or arrange an appropriate response from the field engineering teams or applications specialists.
At all other times calls are handled by a telephone answering service which will relay the message to a Bayer senior support specialist.
The specialist on call will contact the customer within 15 minutes of the initial report and if unable to resolve the issue over the phone will arrange for a prioritised response on the commencement of normal hours.
This effective 24 hours a day, 365 days a year support for customers is unique among the UK diagnostic companies, says Bayer. Telephone troubleshooting is assisted by remote diagnostics modem links with the Advia 120 haematology system, the Advia Centaur immunoassay system, which makes diagnosing problems even easier. If difficulties cannot be resolved over the telephone, Bayer will then arrange to send out one of its field engineers, many of whom have previously worked in laboratories and understand the environment in which the company's customers work.
A dedicated service operations team exists to ensure that the most appropriate engineer is despatched to the site in the shortest possible time, while a service logistics team focuses on ensuring that engineers always have the right parts with them when they arrive.
Outside the service realm, workflow analysis is undertaken by Bayer for customers contemplating the acquisition of new analysers for round-the-clock use.
This assists laboratories in selecting and configuring instrumentation solutions that will maximise efficiency, even out bottlenecks, and cope with peaks in demand.
Suppliers to 24-hour laboratories must also endeavour to deliver consignments with the speed and efficiency that continuous working demands.
