ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
IMPROVING PROCESSES
AUTOMATED SPECIMEN HANDLING
MLabs’ microbiology laboratory automated specimen handling in 2018, installing a BD Kiestra system. Other MLabs’ components are in the process of automating specimen handling.
HIGH ACCURACY
Most specimens are small biopsies or aspirates. Our goal is to achieve maximum results from these tiny samples, while minimizing failures due to insufficient specimens – the Quantity Not Sufficient or QNS rate. Advances in our procedures have resulted in a QNS rate of less than 4% -- lower than most competitors.
TRACKING SPECIMENS
PathTrack is a proprietary web-based application created by the Pathology Informatics group that enables users to create bins of specimens and move them within our institution in real time. PathTrack actively listens to what is happening in Soft and limits any potential double-work with the tracking of specimens.
NEW FACILITIES
ALL UNDER ONE ROOF
In one of the largest relocation and renovation projects ever undertaken at the University of Michigan, the components of Michigan Medicine’s Department of Pathology, once dispersed across the vast medical campus, were united in one location in 2018.
The initial incentive for the move was to accommodate growth – Michigan Medicine has seen demand for laboratory tests increase nearly eight percent per year since 2013. But the ultimate success of the three-year project was the result of listening to users and customers – reflecting a value-based, rather than a volume-based focus.
The majority of Michigan Medicine’s pathology enterprise – including MLabs, now occupies 146,000 square feet in five contiguous buildings of the North Campus Research Complex, located about 4.5 miles from the main hospital campus.
The space, configured with lean facility design principles, is now home to 150+ faculty members and 700+ laboratory technicians and staff, supporting:
- Molecular pathology – including medical genetics, cytogenetics, histocompatibility, molecular dermatopathology and translational pathology
Anatomic pathology
Histology
Microbiology
Cytology
Hematopathology
Immunology
Special chemistry
Consult accessioning
Administrative services
IMPROVED WORKFLOW CAPACITY
DELIVERING INCREASED VALUE
MORE COLLABORATIVE INSIGHTS
the space encourages both formal and informal communication, making it easier for experts to come together to discuss findings.
GREATER EFFICIENCIES
changes such as on-site histology in the molecular lab make it possible to request the number and size of sections for every requested test at one time. Performing all sectioning at once reduces the risk of exhausting often miniscule specimens.
IMPROVED QUALITY
attention to detail such as discrete spaces for pre- and post-PCR in the molecular lab protects the viability of samples and test results and avoids cross-contamination.
FASTER TURNAROUND
an improved workflow results in less congestion and fewer delays. The flexible space plan incorporates redundancy to handle equipment maintenance and upgrades with minimal down time.
STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY
LEAN DESIGN
Click the arrows to view our facilities, including laboratories, lobbies, equipment and administrative areas.
