Interprofessional relationships between clinical and medical professionals have always existed. However, laboratory collaborations have increased sharply with the increased penetration of healthtech after the pandemic struck.

This boost is a blessing, especially in a field that is as specialised and intricate as modern healthcare. That is because when different clinical and medical professionals with specialised expertise liaise with one another, there is greater access to data, technology, and knowledge. This understanding contributes to improved overall patient outcomes and greater safety.

Related: Medlab Middle East marks 100 per cent increase in exhibitor numbers

But what exactly is interprofessional collaboration in modern healthcare? The World Health Organization defines it as the practice when “multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work[ing] together with patients, families, carers (caregivers), and communities to deliver the highest quality of care”.

This is a step beyond what happens in a traditional hospital collaboration with data sharing and efficient communication between nurses and physicians. It requires the different care team members across the clinical, medical and patient sides to engage with the patient and with each other. The idea is to work in unison for the ultimate good of the patient.

Related: UAE laboratories must adopt technology to drive automation and collaboration, says Medlab Middle East research

Here’s how interprofessional collaboration facilitates improved health outcomes:

Better outcomes in patient care

When different specialised professionals collaborate at a professional level, they exchange knowledge and technical expertise. This unlocks a closer understanding of advanced medical investigations, allowing healthcare professionals to make well-rounded patient treatment decisions. The consequence is improved patient health outcomes with the right decisions at the right time.

Eliminates shortcomings of working in silos

Most healthcare professionals tend to work in silos by design. For instance, this means that traditionally, dermatologists train with other dermatologists, and radiologists work with other radiologists during their training or supervision. Unfortunately, this traditional practice is suboptimal and results in limited knowledge implementation with a curtailed overall outlook.

However, when there is collaboration across varied aspects between nurses, radiologists, and lab technicians to referring physicians, this shortcoming is overcome. The outcome is a holistic, improved, and multi-disciplinary approach to treating patients.

Elevates patient safety

Collaboration also helps to keep patients at the centre of every healthcare unit’s operational essence. At the end of the day, patients’ safety and health outcomes are paramount in any healthcare profession.

When medical and clinical professionals collaborate, the result is unified access to medical and patient data that otherwise tends to sit in silos.  More importantly, the different professionals also become equipped to understand patient safety more minutely and their various roles and responsibilities to that end more comprehensively.

This extended access enables everyone involved in patient health outcomes to make better decisions and safeguard client data. Consequently, there’s a reduced probability of errors.  Statistically speaking, medical errors cause 250,000 deaths each year.

Enhances the brand image

Collaborations also enhance the business reputation of entities embracing that paradigm. Strong tie-ups communicate to patients and healthcare providers that the unit is well-equipped in terms of technology and expertise.

In addition, proper safeguarding of patient and medical data enhances great trust while allowing healthcare professionals to make better treatment-related decisions.

 

Collaboration is the future of superior patient outcomes

In an intricate field like healthcare that deals with unique human bodies, there are bound to be gaps in understanding. One cannot possibly have scoped out exact answers to all questions at a given time. In such times, collaboration helps to get the correct answers backed by sound reasoning.

Through collaborative approaches and more seamless communication, there are fewer medical errors with improved patient outcomes and safety. Additionally, there are business benefits to adopters in terms of improved reputation, trust, and efficiency.

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Kinzal Jalan is an experienced B2B content marketer with demonstrated expertise in Health, SaaS and Technology.

 

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GC Labs, the leading clinical laboratory from South Korea, is keen to expand its operations internationally and is looking at Dubai, UAE as a hub, said Sean Hwang, Head of Global Diagnostics & Communication, GC Labs. 

“This is our second year at Medlab Middle East Congress and we are delighted to be a part of this exhibition once again. It has been a busy four days with a lot of inquiries pouring in. We are a clinical laboratory, providing service to all partners who cannot do certain tests in their laboratory. We receive samples from 13 different countries largely spread across Asia and the Middle East, and some from Europe. Overall, there are about 20 partners.” 

GC Labs is South Korea’s first commercial laboratory and was established in 1982. It conducts 92 million tests per year, of which 5,000 are esoteric tests. Some of the popular categories of tests include: genetics, endocrinology, infectious disease, microbiology, and immunology. 

“I think the Middle East is also a very promising market, particularly the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, which are the two top tier countries in terms of market size and evolution of the market. We are keen on Dubai because of its strategic location and the business-friendly landscape. Even though the UAE is a smaller country compared with others regionally, it scores high on its several business-friendly parameters and facilities. Its strategic location could also be beneficial, should we choose to come and set up shop here. We could cater to the local population needs, and that of the nearby regions, such as the Middle East, Africa, and Europe,” said Hwang.

Sean Hwang

He added: “We are part of the Green Cross group with 30 other subsidiaries. We are engaged in the laboratory business, conduct research for medical devices; got a big biopharma generating a revenue of over US$1.5 billion. So, if we were to expand our presence in the UAE, we could build more than just a laboratory.”

The laboratory takes pride in scoring high five counts among the competition: high accuracy rates, quick turnaround time, precise reporting standards, the small rejection rate for samples collected, and lastly owning its own biological system. 

“Owning a biological system is a big advantage for us, which helps reduce the turnaround time. Besides, since GC Labs is part of a bigger company with 40 subsidiaries, the expertise and other services that we will bring with us to the UAE will benefit the industry locally,” Hwang noted.

Even though GC Labs scores high on a number of technical expertise and abilities, such as quick turnaround time and high accuracy, its presence only in its home country has limited its scope of business. “Flying time to Korea is over 10 hours from the Middle East. Therefore, it is easier for companies here and in MENA to send their samples to Europe. We want to capture that market by expanding our operations in the region.” 

GC Labs has more than 400 medical technicians, 43 medical doctors, and an advanced lab information system, similar to a hospital information system, or HIS. “These are key to our high-efficiency levels,” said Hwang.  

The laboratory has top accreditations including CAP, ISO 15189, CDC, and CLSI.

The Emirates International Accreditation Centre is expected to reveal new clauses related to enhancing quality management in laboratories in the second quarter of 2023, and UAE-based facilities will be assessed according to the new standards starting from January 2024. Looking ahead, all laboratories applying for new accreditation will be assessed against the new standard from July 2023, Faisal Ibrahim, Chief Quality Officer at Unilabs Middle East, revealed.

Ibrahim said that the changes coming into effect are patient-focused and risk-based.

“The ISO17025 is the parent document for the new ISO and to summarise, there are five new categories added to the ISO15189:2022 versus the ISO15189:2012, each categorised under structural and government, resource, process, management and system, and general requirements,” he added.

This further covered topics such as impartiality and confidentiality, risk management and equipment calibration, continuity and emergency preparedness, and control of records. Cybersecurity and the essential interaction between IT teams and lab professionals are also the focus of attention in the new set of regulations.

While previous clauses such as the need for a request form may be phased out with automation in the laboratory is on the rise, Ibrahim advises facilities to retain them while conducting their own risk assessment.

LOINC, also known as Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, will also be making its mark in the UAE to elevate the way clinical health information is exchanged electronically.

“The local (UAE) regulations have always been at the forefront. The Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, for instance, has mandated features Electronic Medical Record features such as implementation timelines, required minimum data sets, unit of measurement and data coding standards. With LOINC underway, this would further help standardise test names and numbering while enhancing connectivity on a global scale,” he said.

For further reference, Ibrahim recommends lab directors, managers, technicians, etc. to refer to specifications listed under The National Standard for Business Continuity Management System published by the Supreme Council for National Security (AE/SCNS/NCEMA 7000:2021).

“This would help implement all business-related activities in the laboratory — anywhere from business impact analysis to assessment, mitigating risks, and dealing with residual risks, and so on,” he said.

Another useful resource to understand risk management in medical laboratories is the proposed guide released by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. The second edition for global application is titled “Risk Management Techniques to identify and control laboratory error sources”.

 

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Adherence to quality controls and standardisation are more important than gaining accreditations, said Dr. Nashat Nafouri, Chief Operating Officer of Futurelab Medical Laboratories, Saudi Arabia, during a panel discussion at the Medlab Middle East Congress 2023 in Dubai on February 9. 

“Many laboratories in the region lay significant emphasis on having the right accreditations when the focus should first be on maintaining strict quality controls. Laboratories should forget about accreditation and go back to basics first. It (accreditation) will eventually come by, by the virtue of deploying quality tools and standards. Standardisation process by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) is good because it prescribes the way and guides laboratories on how to go step by step. This is basically what we need at this stage.” 

Abdulaziz M. Aljohani, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia, added: “We are still walking when it comes to quality. If we can really work on quality and build a system that will help us to continuously improve, and improve our service, that would be a great thing.” 

Talking about the point-of-care testing industry, which is growing at above 10 per cent each year, Dr. Barb Jones, CEO, CLSI, US, pointed out the need to have standardisation. “We (CLSI) are working on a dedicated testing initiative to bring our current standards, as a whole, into point-of-care testing. The current complexity of our standards (for laboratories) is not necessarily needed in the point-of-care testing environment because the users are following manufacturer instructions. But all of the overarching principles are very, very much needed,” Dr. Jones said.

The global point-of-care diagnostics market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth US$45.4 billion in 2022. The industry is poised to reach US$75.5 billion by 2027, according to Markets and Markets research report, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.7 per cent from 2022 to 2027. Global standards for this industry would ensure a better quality of services. 

On the lessons learned from the pandemic and what is in it for the laboratories, Dr. Nafouri said, “In my opinion, in order to be prepared, we should adopt a new approach to risk management. Since 1998, we were expecting the influenza virus to re-emerge; like the Hispanic one re-emerged at the beginning of the last century. But we could not predict its timing. So what we can prepare for, at best, is the worst-case scenario.”

He further added: “Agility is very important in healthcare, for only if the healthcare companies are agile will they be able to predict and prepare fast. Now, with artificial intelligence and the tools we have, we can predict risks better.” 

 

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Rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, with a turnaround time of fewer than two hours, are promising tools that could improve patient care, antimicrobial stewardship, and infection prevention in the emergency department (ED) setting. However, they have limitations to their use, said Dr. Fouzia Jabeen, Consultant Microbiologist and Virologist at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, during a discussion on the third day of Medlab Middle East Congress 2023 in Dubai. She delivered a lecture on ‘Rapid diagnostics in clinical microbiology.’

“As we continue to study, rapid diagnostic tests are actually a very cost-effective and useful way of conducting tests. But they have limitations, too. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) are designed for specific targets, so it is important to know that they cannot be used for all kinds of testing. These tests do not provide biological material for additional studies, etc., susceptibility testing, or typing, which are crucial ways of understanding more about the vaccine strains. All these aspects are not part of this panel,” Dr. Jabeen said. 

In the context of infectious diseases, the term rapid diagnostic test refers to lateral-flow, immunochromatographic tests used to detect certain infections. More generally, such assays are described as point-of-care (POC) tests. It is the focus on performance time and simplicity that defines RDT or POC.

RDT is also not helpful in the case of ICU patients that may also have a lot of other comorbidities. “You have cycles of infections and there are not many details to understand which infections might recur,” she added. 

Dr. Jabeen added: “In summary, these molecular panels are very useful and frequently cost-effective, which makes a huge financial impact. However, there are certain considerations and it's important for validation and quality control tests to interpret the findings of the molecular assays. More diagnostics are needed to put these tests to judicious use.”

Technological advances in clinical microbiology laboratories are transforming the world of medicine. Techniques such as molecular diagnostics, digital microbiology, and mass spectrometry are reducing the generation time of the test results, which has a significant clinical impact. 

 

Visit Medlab Middle East 2023 to attend thought-provoking sessions led by industry experts from across the globe.

 

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Automation and sustainability were among the key features of products and solutions displayed at Medlab Middle East 2023, which takes place until February 9. Leaders from across the globe presented unique offerings aimed to usher in an advanced technology-driven era in the laboratory sector. While there are plenty of tech to go about, here are a few innovative ones to take note of:

3D bioprinting: BIO CELLX by CELLINK

The award-winning BIO CELLX is the world’s first-ever 3D biodispenser that ‘prints’ organ-like structures on the lab bench and gives researchers biometric data, which eliminates the waiting time involved in biopsies and the need for organ donations that are often analysed for complex research. The device moves away from traditional bioprinting by using an innovative bioink and comes as CELLINK’s response democratising the field of bioprinting and creating an affordable and accessible solution for every researcher. BIO CELLX was named a “New Product Award Winner” by the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) in 2022.

Quality control: Acusera 24/7 IQC platform by Randox

Harnessing the power of technology combined with medical software development, Randox presents the Acusera 24/7 IQC platform that is equipped with automated features that instantly flag failures in quality control and also identify false rejections. Besides securing the accuracy of workflows, the solution bridges the gap between internal quality control and external quality assessments. The web-based platform is also flexible and offers configurations personalised according to different laboratory needs — ranging from target values and performance limits to multi-rules.

Syndromic testing: QIAstat-Dx Rise by QIAGEN

Reeling in a new era in syndromic testing, the hands-free QIAstat-Dx Rise provides diagnostic results for up to 56 tests within an eight-hour shift. This means significant efficiency, flexibility and increased testing capacity. According to the Netherlands-based company QIAGEN, the solution is complemented by the QIAstat-Dx Analyzer runs with all-in-one cartridges containing preloaded reagents, and promises labs with rapid results and accuracy in diagnosis. This is further digitally linked to hospitals’ Electronic Medical Systems, enabling efficiency at every stage.

Optimised point of care: ID NOW^TM by Abbott

Workflow optimisation is the need of the hour, and this has led to an influx of point-of-care testing solutions aimed at boosting real-time decision-making processes and improving patient care. Keeping up with the evolving landscape is Abbott’s ID Now, currently known as the fastest rapid molecular respiratory testing solution that does not compromise the quality of diagnostics. Its performance takes 13 minutes or less, maintains a constant temperature and eliminates the conventional heating and cooling process, which empower physicians to overcome delays in real-time settings.

Compact labs: DxA 5000 Fit by Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter steers away from modular automation in the lab with the DxA 5000 Fit that not only drives total laboratory automation and secures high-quality results through patented innovation, but also caters to the space-saving needs of small and mid-sized laboratories. The consolidated platform features multidisciplinary connections and delivers the most comprehensive pre-analytical sample assessments in the industry within a short turnaround time. The solution further reduces manual steps by 80 per cent in pre- and post-analytical stages with up to 75 per cent reduction in errors.

 

 

Visit Medlab Middle East 2023 to attend thought-provoking sessions led by industry experts from across the globe.

 

More care is not equivalent to higher-quality care. In fact, unnecessary tests and procedures significantly increase healthcare costs, said Prof. Praveen Sharma, Professor of Biochemistry at the All India Institute of Medical Services, Jodhpur, India, at the Medlab Middle East Congress 2023. 

“Laboratory tests are fundamental to medical diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment decisions. However, there is both over-utilisation and underutilisation in laboratories. It is observed that the private sector tends to conduct more tests because testing is a source of revenue. In a lot of cases, the cost of performing tests is significantly less than what is charged. So a private clinic or hospital would understandably like to conduct more tests. But this is an ethical question, why should patients be taxed for this?” Prof. Sharma questioned.

“Take the case of Vitamin D, for instance. The cutoff for Vitamin D is 30, but most people have lower levels of this vitamin. We need an expansive study to understand the reference range for Vitamin D for different regions and countries. It cannot be the same for all. A region-wise reference range could help curb unnecessary test prescriptions for Vitamin D,” Sharma said on the sidelines of his talk on ‘Strategic leadership plan towards improving value-based laboratory utilisation’. 

Laboratory testing is the single highest-volume medical activity and drives clinical decision-making across medicine. However, labs globally are plagued with both overutilisation and underutilisation, which affects not only the medical outcome but also a number of other aspects of healthcare. A 15-year meta-analysis by Zhi et al, Prof. Sharma quoted, states that the rate of laboratory overutilisation is 20.6 per cent and underutilisation is close to 45 per cent.

He suggests a five-prong strategy to improve laboratory test utilisation, which includes order entry system, minimum resting intervals, careful design of test panels, reflex and reflective testing, and education and inter-professional dialogues. 

“Minimum resting interval is the minimum time before a test should be repeated. It is based on the properties of the test and the clinical situation in which it is used. It can lead to significant savings of time, money and resources for patients and medical professionals,” said Prof. Praveen. 

Prof. Praveen also advocated for more careful design of test panels. “One way of reducing unnecessary costs is to restrict usage of low-value tests. The medical community can look at eliminating tests that have no value. For instance, faecal occult blood test has minimal value in acute care. So this can be eliminated as an orderable test in acute care for screening symptomatic individuals. Laboratories should also restrict test orders to specific signs, and symptoms — Vitamin D and B12 need not be ordered for everyone. Labs can also look at substitution of better tests for a less valuable test — CRP over ESR, urine metanephrines over urine catecholamines,” he added. 

The laboratories need better communication and collaboration with appropriate clinical leaders to make restrictions successful and reduce the cost of unnecessary healthcare.    

Visit Medlab Middle East 2023 to attend thought-provoking sessions led by industry experts from across the globe.

 

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