Streamlined Sample Management in High Volume Labs
Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been using Freezerworks since 2002. Susan Arenson, a Medical Technologist at Saint Francis, has worked there for 31 years and began working with Freezerworks while she was the LIS Manager. Recently, she transitioned to the Information Technology team at Saint Francis, but was the main Medical Technologist during the transition to Freezerworks.
“Freezerworks has been a lifesaver for us, and we absolutely could not function without it.”
During a conference in 2001, an associate at Saint Francis discovered Freezerworks. At the time, the lab was implementing an outreach program and they were in desperate need of software to track specimens. They decided to contact Dataworks Development to obtain Freezerworks sample management software in 2002. The change in laboratory operations has been dramatic.
As a customer of Freezerworks since 2002, Arenson is appreciative of how Freezerworks has kept the lab organized. As Saint Francis Hospital has grown, Freezerworks has grown with it. Saint Francis has maintained Freezerworks in its most basic form, which is precisely what works for them. The Lab Techs simply scan the barcodes on the tubes and either put them away or retrieve them. It is the quickest, easiest, and most efficient way to track specimens. Arenson said, “Freezerworks has been a lifesaver for us, and we absolutely could not function without it.”
Before Freezerworks, Saint Francis hadn’t been involved in any outreach. Samples were stored in racks by hospital floor. When a Lab Tech would receive a phone call from a doctor for a test on a specimen, they would need to go to the correct floor and wing to find the racks and begin their search through each individual tube to find the right one. When Saint Francis Hospital began its outreach, they nearly doubled the workload in the lab. Without Freezerworks, they would not have been able to track and manage their specimens in an orderly fashion.
Arenson calls Freezerworks a “trouble-free application” and recalls only one incident over the course of 12 years, but maintains that the Freezerworks support staff were quick to address and resolve the issue for them. Arenson’s advice for labs considering Freezerworks is that, “it is very easy to implement.” Setting up the freezers and shelves was “very simple and straightforward to do.” Freezerworks has been an invaluable tool for the Saint Francis lab.
For more information on Freezerworks Sample Management Software, visit www.freezerworks.com.
Written by Hilary McGovern, Asst. Marketing Manager
