The Need for Automation in a Modern Laboratory Center: Testing Workload, Promising Methods

Introduction. Currently, healthcare is facing an increasing burden on the operational processes in clinical laboratories. The number of patients undergoing tests is steadily increasing, which leads to a proportional increase in the routine workflow of laboratory staff to perform the total testing process. To optimize the processes of clinical laboratories and ensure staff offload, it is crucial to consider the introduction of fundamentally new modular devices that, due to their versatility and mobility, could effectively integrate into existing business processes.

The purpose of this work was to review and measure the existing dynamics of the operational load in clinical laboratories, identify routine non-automated processes that are necessary to perform a full testing cycle, calculate the actual time spent, and consider possible solutions for process automation.

Materials and methods. In this study, statistical data from the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Laboratory Research of the Moscow Healthcare Department for the period 2021–2025 was used. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the number of sample referrals for laboratory testing, as well as the tests performed, was carried out. Regulatory documents and internal time calculations to assess the time-consuming routine operations were used. The average daily time required to perform the analyzed processes was calculated for the current average daily volume of samples received for processing (95 thousand).

Results. For the period from 2021 to 2025, the largest laboratory complex in Russia saw an average monthly increase of patients by 96%, the number of samples processed by 187%, and the number of tests performed by 380%. The average daily time required to perform all manual operations has increased from 280 to 820 hours. High potential of process automation using modular solutions based on 6-axis collaborative robots has been revealed.

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