Description:
Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is a publicly held not-for profit 900+ bed institution serving a 12-county region with a population in excess of 4 million in West Central Florida. TGH serves as the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine. TGH is a member of Novation, the industry's leading group purchasing organization, consisting of more than 5000 member health care institutions.

Challenge:
To reduce sample volume requirements and turnaround times. Prior to installation of the Nova CCX analyzers, the all of the blood gas and electrolyte testing was performed in the main laboratory using Radiometer ABL 600 and Nova 8 analyzers. With multiple sampling requirements and inefficient data management, the average turnaround time was about 8 minutes.

Solution:
In 2003, TGH initiated a major point of care testing program with the installation of four Stat Profile® Critical Care Xpress (CCX) analyzers in the blood gas laboratory, and single CCX analyzers in the Emergency Department, NICU, and Cardiac Surgery Recovery unit respectively.

Instrumentation:

Tests Performed:
Blood gases, glucose, lactate, sodium, potassium, chloride, ionized calcium, and ionized magnesium.

Benefits Realized:

• COMPREHENSIVE TEST MENU
  Nova CCX analyzers provide a more comprehensive test menu and a single aspiration for all tests. This has improved the average turnaround time for stat samples to approximately 4 minutes.
• BLOOD CONSERVATION/IMPROVED PATIENT OUTCOMES
  According to Virgil Stubbs, RRT, Supervisor of the Blood Gas Laboratory, “consolidation of workstations has reduced sample volume requirements which is especially appreciated in the NICU where blood conservation is vital. The overall level of patient service has led to improved patient outcomes in all areas of the hospital. No other manufacturer can provide the tools to offer this superior level of service to the entire hospital.”
• COST SAVINGS
  Stubbs also appreciates the significant cost savings with the CCX analyzers. Cost per test panel is approximately $1.00, or about $0.06 per test for the 17-test panel.
• IONIZED MAGNESIUM
  The availability of ionized magnesium on the CCX analyzer addressed the need to conduct more than 60 ionized magnesium tests per day for cardiac and transplant surgery.

All of the CCX analyzers are connected to a Nova Point of Care Management System that is in turn connected to a Mysis LIS system.

System Configuration: