Introduction

To keep respondents anonymous, some items (in particular free text items) were not analyzed for this study. This report was created using R version 4.1.2, R Markdown package version 2.11, and RStudio version 1.4.1106 on Linux Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS. It is best viewed with Chrome based browsers (e.g. Chrome, Chromium, Edge).

Items 1-10

Q1 Location

Answer Frequency
Italy 126
Russia 112
Saudi Arabia 90
Spain 64
United Kingdom 43
Germany 42
Greece 40
United Arab Emirates 35
South Africa 24
Serbia 21
Croatia 20
Romania 20
France 19
Austria 17
Belgium 17
Portugal 15
Sweden 8
Pakistan 7
Kazakhstan 6
Switzerland 6
Denmark 4
Finland 4
Netherlands 4
Poland 3
Turkey 3
Ireland 2
Rwanda 2
Israel 1
Norway 1
Other 17

Q2 Laboratory type

Answer Frequency
Government hospital laboratory 484
Private hospital laboratory 129
Commercial laboratory 146
Other 14

Location by laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory Other
Italy 99 12 11 4
Russia 71 19 22 0
Saudi Arabia 30 42 18 0
Spain 58 3 3 0
United Kingdom 43 0 0 0
Germany 25 3 14 0
Greece 24 2 14 0
United Arab Emirates 5 23 7 0
South Africa 9 1 10 4
Serbia 18 1 1 1
Croatia 16 1 3 0
Romania 8 3 9 0
France 9 2 8 0
Austria 10 0 7 0
Belgium 8 5 4 0
Portugal 12 1 2 0
Sweden 7 0 1 0
Pakistan 1 5 1 0
Kazakhstan 3 0 3 0
Switzerland 4 0 2 0
Denmark 4 0 0 0
Finland 3 0 1 0
Netherlands 4 0 0 0
Poland 2 0 1 0
Turkey 0 2 1 0
Ireland 2 0 0 0
Rwanda 1 1 0 0
Israel 1 0 0 0
Norway 1 0 0 0
Other 6 3 3 5

For further analysis, “Other” laboratories (including e.g. research laboratories) were excluded due to relevant differences between medical and non-medical laboratories.

Q3 Part of chain or network

Yes No
Combined 297 462
Government hospital laboratory 149 335
Private hospital laboratory 69 60
Commercial laboratory 79 67

Q4 Patients per day

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Combined 759 100 300 600 1286 1500 10000 1200 1758
Government hospital laboratory 484 100 400 700 1353 1500 10000 1100 1685
Private hospital laboratory 129 100 200 400 625 800 5400 600 761
Commercial laboratory 146 100 200 600 1645 1950 10000 1750 2378

Q5 Shifts per day on weekday

3 2 1
Combined 417 209 130
Government hospital laboratory 307 100 76
Private hospital laboratory 86 31 11
Commercial laboratory 24 78 43

Q6 Shifts per day on weekend

3 2 1 0
Combined 369 137 168 83
Government hospital laboratory 280 94 74 34
Private hospital laboratory 74 24 25 6
Commercial laboratory 15 19 69 43

Q7 Shift length

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Combined 750 0 8 8 8.3 8 12 0 1.6
Government hospital laboratory 480 5 8 8 8.3 8 12 0 1.6
Private hospital laboratory 125 0 8 8 8.3 8 12 0 1.6
Commercial laboratory 145 6 8 8 8.5 8 12 0 1.4

Q9 Certification / Accreditation

Combined:

Currently have Plan to have in the next 12 months Do not have
ISO15189 207 124 427
ISO9000 180 48 530
JCIA 68 29 661
CAP 35 49 674
ISO14000 17 12 729
MLE 4 2 752

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently have Plan to have in the next 12 months Do not have
ISO15189 119 89 275
ISO9000 112 34 337
JCIA 26 12 445
CAP 13 17 453
ISO14000 11 5 467
MLE 1 1 481

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently have Plan to have in the next 12 months Do not have
ISO15189 23 18 88
ISO9000 21 5 103
JCIA 36 10 83
CAP 11 22 96
ISO14000 3 4 122
MLE 3 0 126

Commercial laboratory:

Currently have Plan to have in the next 12 months Do not have
ISO15189 65 17 64
ISO9000 47 9 90
JCIA 6 7 133
CAP 11 10 125
ISO14000 3 3 140
MLE 0 1 145

Q10 National accreditation

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 302
No 456

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 193 49 60
No 290 80 86

Items 11-20

Q11 Laboratory improvement program

Combined:

Currently use Plan to use Do not use
Continuous development program for employees 662 32 64
Patient satisfaction survey 508 38 212
Clinician satisfaction survey 470 49 239
Employee satisfaction survey 441 57 260
Activity based costing ABC 196 37 525
LEAN Six sigma 166 66 526

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently use Plan to use Do not use
Continuous development program for employees 420 19 44
Patient satisfaction survey 288 26 169
Clinician satisfaction survey 271 34 178
Employee satisfaction survey 255 38 190
Activity based costing ABC 125 20 338
LEAN Six sigma 108 39 336

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently use Plan to use Do not use
Continuous development program for employees 107 11 11
Patient satisfaction survey 113 7 9
Clinician satisfaction survey 89 12 28
Employee satisfaction survey 90 10 29
Activity based costing ABC 33 11 85
LEAN Six sigma 22 13 94

Commercial laboratory:

Currently use Plan to use Do not use
Continuous development program for employees 135 2 9
Patient satisfaction survey 107 5 34
Clinician satisfaction survey 110 3 33
Employee satisfaction survey 96 9 41
Activity based costing ABC 38 6 102
LEAN Six sigma 36 14 96

Q12 Key Performance Indicators

Combined:

Currently measure Plan to measure Do not measure
Reduction of expired reagent stock 408 64 285
Systems uptime/downtime 349 57 351
Rerun rates 340 60 357
Blood smear review rates 298 33 426
Reduction of consumable waste 272 72 413
Employee productivity (e.g. samples per FTE) 246 64 447
Amount of implemented auto-validation rules 243 67 447
Instrument noise levels 239 53 465
Return on investment (e.g. TCO, TVO) 161 61 535
Work space utilization (e.g. tests per square meter) 95 65 597

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently measure Plan to measure Do not measure
Reduction of expired reagent stock 235 46 202
Systems uptime/downtime 216 28 239
Rerun rates 202 31 250
Blood smear review rates 163 24 296
Reduction of consumable waste 146 46 291
Employee productivity (e.g. samples per FTE) 144 37 302
Amount of implemented auto-validation rules 151 38 294
Instrument noise levels 157 30 296
Return on investment (e.g. TCO, TVO) 75 38 370
Work space utilization (e.g. tests per square meter) 41 39 403

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently measure Plan to measure Do not measure
Reduction of expired reagent stock 81 11 37
Systems uptime/downtime 64 17 48
Rerun rates 58 20 51
Blood smear review rates 62 6 61
Reduction of consumable waste 57 15 57
Employee productivity (e.g. samples per FTE) 51 16 62
Amount of implemented auto-validation rules 36 18 75
Instrument noise levels 36 14 79
Return on investment (e.g. TCO, TVO) 30 16 83
Work space utilization (e.g. tests per square meter) 23 16 90

Commercial laboratory:

Currently measure Plan to measure Do not measure
Reduction of expired reagent stock 92 7 46
Systems uptime/downtime 69 12 64
Rerun rates 80 9 56
Blood smear review rates 73 3 69
Reduction of consumable waste 69 11 65
Employee productivity (e.g. samples per FTE) 51 11 83
Amount of implemented auto-validation rules 56 11 78
Instrument noise levels 46 9 90
Return on investment (e.g. TCO, TVO) 56 7 82
Work space utilization (e.g. tests per square meter) 31 10 104

Q13 Use of auto-validation

Combined:

Yes No
Clinical chemistry (i.e. biochemistry, turbidimetric assays) 359 400
Immunoassays (i.e. hormones, tumor, cardiac, infectious diseases markers) 346 413
Haematology 338 421
Coagulation 292 467
Urinalysis 287 472
Bacteriology 136 623
Routine molecular diagnostics (i.e. infectiology) 112 647
Spezialized molecular diagnostics (i.e. genomics) 47 712

Government hospital laboratory:

Yes No
Clinical chemistry (i.e. biochemistry, turbidimetric assays) 243 241
Immunoassays (i.e. hormones, tumor, cardiac, infectious diseases markers) 236 248
Haematology 225 259
Coagulation 197 287
Urinalysis 196 288
Bacteriology 89 395
Routine molecular diagnostics (i.e. infectiology) 65 419
Spezialized molecular diagnostics (i.e. genomics) 25 459

Private hospital laboratory:

Yes No
Clinical chemistry (i.e. biochemistry, turbidimetric assays) 44 85
Immunoassays (i.e. hormones, tumor, cardiac, infectious diseases markers) 43 86
Haematology 45 84
Coagulation 35 94
Urinalysis 34 95
Bacteriology 17 112
Routine molecular diagnostics (i.e. infectiology) 16 113
Spezialized molecular diagnostics (i.e. genomics) 9 120

Commercial laboratory:

Yes No
Clinical chemistry (i.e. biochemistry, turbidimetric assays) 72 74
Immunoassays (i.e. hormones, tumor, cardiac, infectious diseases markers) 67 79
Haematology 68 78
Coagulation 60 86
Urinalysis 57 89
Bacteriology 30 116
Routine molecular diagnostics (i.e. infectiology) 31 115
Spezialized molecular diagnostics (i.e. genomics) 13 133

Q14 Use of TAT as KPI

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 567
Plan to use in the next 12 months 62
Do not use 128

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 359 107 101
Plan to use in the next 12 months 42 4 16
Do not use 82 18 28

Q15 Type of TAT monitored (if TAT used as KPI)

Combined:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Lab TAT 514 45 70
Sample-to-Result 251 62 316
Analytical 242 53 334
Post-analytic 220 59 350
Pre-analytic 202 65 362
Pre-pre-analytic 180 76 373
Brain to Brain 158 41 430

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Lab TAT 335 31 35
Sample-to-Result 134 41 226
Analytical 142 31 228
Post-analytic 128 34 239
Pre-analytic 118 38 245
Pre-pre-analytic 94 51 256
Brain to Brain 96 29 276

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Lab TAT 92 9 10
Sample-to-Result 55 12 44
Analytical 45 18 48
Post-analytic 40 19 52
Pre-analytic 37 21 53
Pre-pre-analytic 41 17 53
Brain to Brain 25 6 80

Commercial laboratory:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Lab TAT 87 5 25
Sample-to-Result 62 9 46
Analytical 55 4 58
Post-analytic 52 6 59
Pre-analytic 47 6 64
Pre-pre-analytic 45 8 64
Brain to Brain 37 6 74

Q16 Frequency of TAT measurement

Combined:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Retrospective monthly 301 31 297
Real time 251 48 330
Retrospective daily 187 36 406
Retrospective quarterly 158 26 445
Retrospective weekly 129 36 464

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Retrospective monthly 194 23 184
Real time 167 30 204
Retrospective daily 106 23 272
Retrospective quarterly 111 21 269
Retrospective weekly 72 25 304

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Retrospective monthly 59 6 46
Real time 37 13 61
Retrospective daily 42 8 61
Retrospective quarterly 24 2 85
Retrospective weekly 26 9 76

Commercial laboratory:

Currently monitor Plan to monitor in the next 12 months Do not monitor
Retrospective monthly 48 2 67
Real time 47 5 65
Retrospective daily 39 5 73
Retrospective quarterly 23 3 91
Retrospective weekly 31 2 84

Q17 Software used for TAT monitoring

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Time stamp analysis using spreadsheet software (i.e. Excel analysis using LIS data) 392
Comprehensive Middleware IT Solutions 152
Dedicated TAT Monitoring Software 85

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Time stamp analysis using spreadsheet software (i.e. Excel analysis using LIS data) 263 57 72
Comprehensive Middleware IT Solutions 87 41 24
Dedicated TAT Monitoring Software 51 13 21

Q18 TAT targets

Combined:

0.5-1 day 1-2 days 2-3 days 3-4 days 4-5 days > 5 days N/A
Routine Molecular STAT 141 35 5 7 8 4 428
Routine Molecular Routine 64 70 46 17 18 21 392
Specialized Molecular STAT 38 13 4 9 5 22 537
Specialized Molecular Routine 22 16 18 7 18 52 495
Bacteriology STAT 124 69 57 10 6 2 360
Bacteriology Routine 25 85 108 47 42 27 294

Government hospital laboratory:

0.5-1 day 1-2 days 2-3 days 3-4 days 4-5 days > 5 days N/A
Routine Molecular STAT 99 14 1 2 6 2 277
Routine Molecular Routine 44 35 29 7 11 13 262
Specialized Molecular STAT 24 8 1 3 3 15 347
Specialized Molecular Routine 15 7 10 3 9 35 322
Bacteriology STAT 81 36 16 5 4 1 258
Bacteriology Routine 16 51 56 19 18 11 230

Private hospital laboratory:

0.5-1 day 1-2 days 2-3 days 3-4 days 4-5 days > 5 days N/A
Routine Molecular STAT 15 13 4 3 2 1 73
Routine Molecular Routine 7 9 13 6 7 3 66
Specialized Molecular STAT 4 3 1 4 2 5 92
Specialized Molecular Routine 2 1 3 4 5 8 88
Bacteriology STAT 20 15 31 4 1 1 39
Bacteriology Routine 3 13 28 19 14 9 25

Commercial laboratory:

0.5-1 day 1-2 days 2-3 days 3-4 days 4-5 days > 5 days N/A
Routine Molecular STAT 27 8 0 2 0 1 78
Routine Molecular Routine 13 26 4 4 0 5 64
Specialized Molecular STAT 10 2 2 2 0 2 98
Specialized Molecular Routine 5 8 5 0 4 9 85
Bacteriology STAT 23 18 10 1 1 0 63
Bacteriology Routine 6 21 24 9 10 7 39

Q19 TAT targets and achievement rate urgent/STAT

Target TAT

Combined:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 88 367 90 19 8 5 1 0
Immunoassays 41 317 126 53 17 13 9 1
Haematology 188 254 75 14 5 5 1 0
Coagulation 116 292 79 20 4 3 0 0
Urinalysis 116 237 91 32 5 7 4 1

Government hospital laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 69 252 39 5 1 2 0 0
Immunoassays 27 238 71 19 7 5 4 0
Haematology 135 169 26 3 1 2 0 0
Coagulation 79 199 35 6 1 0 0 0
Urinalysis 80 159 44 12 1 1 3 1

Private hospital laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 11 64 21 6 3 2 0 0
Immunoassays 9 48 21 16 4 4 3 0
Haematology 31 49 18 5 1 2 0 0
Coagulation 21 56 17 7 1 2 0 0
Urinalysis 20 46 23 9 2 3 0 0

Commercial laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 8 51 30 8 4 1 1 0
Immunoassays 5 31 34 18 6 4 2 1
Haematology 22 36 31 6 3 1 1 0
Coagulation 16 37 27 7 2 1 0 0
Urinalysis 16 32 24 11 2 3 1 0

Achievement rate

Combined:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 6 3 1 0 4 5 11 38 137 362
Immunoassays 4 4 0 4 7 12 12 41 142 343
Haematology 6 2 0 1 0 1 7 20 100 393
Coagulation 4 2 1 0 2 3 7 30 101 353
Urinalysis 6 1 2 1 5 5 7 25 86 348

Government hospital laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 3 3 1 0 4 4 6 29 91 218
Immunoassays 2 4 0 3 6 9 5 31 102 204
Haematology 4 2 0 0 0 1 3 14 60 242
Coagulation 3 2 0 0 2 2 3 20 66 213
Urinalysis 4 1 1 1 4 4 3 12 57 209

Private hospital laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 23 75
Immunoassays 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 6 21 73
Haematology 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 23 77
Coagulation 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 21 74
Urinalysis 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 9 16 74

Commercial laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 23 69
Immunoassays 1 0 0 1 0 2 5 4 19 66
Haematology 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 17 74
Coagulation 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 14 66
Urinalysis 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 13 65

Q20 TAT targets and achievement rate routine

Target TAT

Combined:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 0 53 112 173 107 115 17 2
Immunoassays 0 30 88 178 109 122 49 15
Haematology 0 86 127 135 87 88 15 1
Coagulation 0 63 156 120 84 76 12 6
Urinalysis 0 62 98 144 98 105 23 3

Government hospital laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 0 31 76 120 58 66 9 2
Immunoassays 0 21 56 124 64 70 27 12
Haematology 0 60 82 83 45 46 9 1
Coagulation 0 41 100 76 43 43 7 3
Urinalysis 0 43 56 92 52 66 18 2

Private hospital laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 0 10 21 30 18 26 4 0
Immunoassays 0 6 17 32 12 28 11 3
Haematology 0 12 26 32 17 18 1 0
Coagulation 0 10 30 28 17 16 2 3
Urinalysis 0 11 23 29 20 20 2 1

Commercial laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Clinical chemistry 0 12 15 23 31 23 4 0
Immunoassays 0 3 15 22 33 24 11 0
Haematology 0 14 19 20 25 24 5 0
Coagulation 0 12 26 16 24 17 3 0
Urinalysis 0 8 19 23 26 19 3 0

Achievement rate

Combined:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 2 1 0 1 2 9 3 29 122 400
Immunoassays 2 1 0 0 3 12 9 39 127 386
Haematology 2 1 0 0 1 8 5 15 85 412
Coagulation 2 1 0 0 1 7 7 18 84 388
Urinalysis 3 1 0 1 1 7 8 20 89 398

Government hospital laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 2 1 0 1 2 7 3 18 83 236
Immunoassays 2 1 0 0 3 7 8 27 88 227
Haematology 2 1 0 0 1 6 3 7 56 241
Coagulation 2 1 0 0 1 5 5 9 54 228
Urinalysis 3 1 0 1 1 4 7 12 58 237

Private hospital laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 15 85
Immunoassays 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 9 12 85
Haematology 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 10 87
Coagulation 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 13 84
Urinalysis 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 15 84

Commercial laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Clinical chemistry 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 24 79
Immunoassays 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 27 74
Haematology 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 19 84
Coagulation 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 17 76
Urinalysis 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 16 77

Items 21-30

Q21 TAT monitored for very specific assay

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 325
No 303

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 216 63 46
No 185 48 70

Q22 Specific assay/test profile TAT targets and achievement rate

Target TAT

Combined:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Blood gas 109 28 7 2 0 2 0 0
Cardiac 56 190 32 8 2 0 0 0
Blood count 48 104 40 19 12 6 0 0
Renal 41 139 42 18 10 4 0 0
Liver 35 112 39 18 9 6 0 0
PCR 2 5 8 11 8 17 0 0

Government hospital laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Blood gas 80 18 3 2 0 0 0 0
Cardiac 34 130 17 5 1 0 0 0
Blood count 29 72 26 9 6 2 0 0
Renal 31 96 21 10 5 1 0 0
Liver 27 79 19 11 4 2 0 0
PCR 1 3 6 7 3 8 0 0

Private hospital laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Blood gas 25 7 4 0 0 1 0 0
Cardiac 16 38 5 0 0 0 0 0
Blood count 13 23 5 3 2 2 0 0
Renal 7 27 10 3 3 3 0 0
Liver 6 22 12 3 2 3 0 0
PCR 1 1 2 2 2 5 0 0

Commercial laboratory:

<0.5h 0.5-1h 1-2h 2-4h 4-8h 8-24h 24-48h >48h
Blood gas 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
Cardiac 6 22 10 3 1 0 0 0
Blood count 6 9 9 7 4 2 0 0
Renal 3 16 11 5 2 0 0 0
Liver 2 11 8 4 3 1 0 0
PCR 0 1 0 2 3 4 0 0

Achievement rate

Combined:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Blood gas 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 6 20 124
Cardiac 2 1 0 0 3 2 1 15 56 204
Blood count 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 7 44 172
Renal 2 0 1 0 2 1 3 14 51 178
Liver 1 0 0 0 2 2 3 9 37 162
PCR 2 1 1 0 0 3 1 6 14 66

Government hospital laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Blood gas 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 2 11 87
Cardiac 2 1 0 0 3 1 1 10 40 126
Blood count 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 3 29 105
Renal 2 0 1 0 2 1 2 9 36 109
Liver 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 5 28 100
PCR 2 1 1 0 0 3 1 5 10 39

Private hospital laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Blood gas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 30
Cardiac 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 7 48
Blood count 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 39
Renal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 41
Liver 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 40
PCR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17

Commercial laboratory:

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Blood gas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 7
Cardiac 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 30
Blood count 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 28
Renal 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 28
Liver 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 22
PCR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 10

Q23 Processing location of urgent/stat samples

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Core Laboratory 588
Dedicated emergency/STAT Laboratory 117
Molecular Laboratory 1
Other 48

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Core Laboratory 355 114 119
Dedicated emergency/STAT Laboratory 95 12 10
Molecular Laboratory 1 0 0
Other 31 3 14

Q24 Processing staff / Instrumentation of urgent/stat samples

Combined:

Answer Frequency
We have the same staff and instruments but are more attentive to STAT samples 516
We have dedicated staff 56
We have dedicated instruments 15

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
We have the same staff and instruments but are more attentive to STAT samples 294 108 114
We have dedicated staff 48 6 2
We have dedicated instruments 12 0 3

Q25 Services provided to physicians

Combined:

Provide currently Plan to provide in next 12 months Do not provide
Alerts 628 12 110
Results and interpretations 627 20 105
Results only 602 1 138
Reflexive test suggestions 522 28 197
Proactive consultation on complex patient cases 495 32 226
Real time decision support 430 23 296
Diagnostic pathways guidance 394 43 315

Government hospital laboratory:

Provide currently Plan to provide in next 12 months Do not provide
Alerts 406 8 64
Results and interpretations 412 9 59
Results only 384 1 88
Reflexive test suggestions 349 16 112
Proactive consultation on complex patient cases 330 20 130
Real time decision support 291 13 175
Diagnostic pathways guidance 261 29 190

Private hospital laboratory:

Provide currently Plan to provide in next 12 months Do not provide
Alerts 100 3 26
Results and interpretations 95 8 26
Results only 102 0 27
Reflexive test suggestions 72 8 48
Proactive consultation on complex patient cases 70 9 50
Real time decision support 65 5 58
Diagnostic pathways guidance 61 8 60

Commercial laboratory:

Provide currently Plan to provide in next 12 months Do not provide
Alerts 122 1 20
Results and interpretations 120 3 20
Results only 116 0 23
Reflexive test suggestions 101 4 37
Proactive consultation on complex patient cases 95 3 46
Real time decision support 74 5 63
Diagnostic pathways guidance 72 6 65

Q26 Satisfaction of customers with laboratory

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Very satisfied 251
6 278
5 101
Neutral 109
3 2
2 5
Very dissatisfied 7

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Very satisfied 165 38 48
6 169 49 60
5 62 16 23
Neutral 76 22 11
3 2 0 0
2 2 2 1
Very dissatisfied 4 2 1

Q27 Diagnostic committees

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Infectiology 296
Emergency 267
Cardiology 258
Internal Medicine 251
Intensive Care 231
Endocrinology 226
Pediatric Care 200
Oncology 199
Obstetrics 180
Gastroenterology 163
None 185

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Infectiology 185 68 43
Emergency 188 60 19
Cardiology 183 48 27
Internal Medicine 169 52 30
Intensive Care 168 50 13
Endocrinology 154 37 35
Pediatric Care 136 34 30
Oncology 141 34 24
Obstetrics 120 31 29
Gastroenterology 111 33 19
None 105 17 63

Q28 Review of diagnostic pathways

Combined:

Answer Frequency
monthly 99
bi-monthly 20
quarterly 105
semi-annually 101
annually 188
never 143
Other 97

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
monthly 58 25 16
bi-monthly 16 1 3
quarterly 55 25 25
semi-annually 70 23 8
annually 126 29 33
never 84 18 41
Other 71 8 18

Q29 Utilization management

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 334
Plan to have in the next 12 months 122
Do not have 297

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 234 49 51
Plan to have in the next 12 months 86 19 17
Do not have 160 61 76

Q30 Combining data digitally with other disciplines

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 242
Plan to combine data digitally in the next 12 months 113
No plan to combine data digitally 398

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 156 46 40
Plan to combine data digitally in the next 12 months 75 24 14
No plan to combine data digitally 249 59 90

Items 31-40

Q31 Measurement of patient outcomes

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 183
Plan to measure in the next 12 months 76
Do not measure 494

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 96 51 36
Plan to measure in the next 12 months 56 13 7
Do not measure 328 65 101

Q32 Plans to measure patient outcomes

To keep respondents anonymous, this item has not been analyzed (cf. Introduction).

Q33 Percent of paper ordering

Combined:

Answer Frequency
100 118
90 22
80 29
70 16
60 20
50 50
40 23
30 37
20 60
10 198
0 176

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
100 67 21 30
90 9 3 10
80 15 4 10
70 12 2 2
60 12 4 4
50 27 7 16
40 15 3 5
30 21 12 4
20 33 10 17
10 149 27 22
0 117 36 23

Q34 Use of basic IT solutions

Combined:

Currently use with LIS Currently use with Middleware Currently use  Spreadsheet Software (i.e. Excel) Plan to use dedicated software in the next 12 months Do not use
Result reporting 666 49 7 7 20
Age gender related rules 603 56 9 12 69
Generation of statistics reports 513 70 53 22 91
Turnaround time monitoring 436 72 48 39 154
QC monitoring 424 143 47 28 107
Sample archiving 403 99 27 24 196
Color coded result reporting 386 49 6 26 282
Delta checks 354 86 10 43 256
Westgard rules 346 120 39 41 203
Serum index checks 329 105 22 32 261
Patient result monitoring using floating median / moving averages 206 67 19 45 412

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently use with LIS Currently use with Middleware Currently use  Spreadsheet Software (e.g. Excel) Plan to use dedicated software in the next 12 months Do not use
Result reporting 422 30 7 4 14
Age gender related rules 370 40 8 8 51
Generation of statistics reports 326 45 42 10 54
Turnaround time monitoring 283 47 32 21 94
QC monitoring 269 101 34 15 58
Sample archiving 257 77 19 14 110
Color coded result reporting 229 32 4 14 198
Delta checks 214 64 7 22 170
Westgard rules 219 86 28 24 120
Serum index checks 227 80 12 21 137
Patient result monitoring using floating median / moving averages 125 44 15 27 266

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently use with LIS Currently use with Middleware Currently use  Spreadsheet Software (e.g. Excel) Plan to use dedicated software in the next 12 months Do not use
Result reporting 112 9 0 2 6
Age gender related rules 102 9 1 3 14
Generation of statistics reports 84 14 8 8 15
Turnaround time monitoring 74 14 7 10 24
QC monitoring 65 17 9 9 29
Sample archiving 62 9 5 7 46
Color coded result reporting 71 7 1 8 42
Delta checks 59 13 1 13 43
Westgard rules 51 18 8 11 41
Serum index checks 35 11 6 5 72
Patient result monitoring using floating median / moving averages 36 9 0 7 77

Commercial laboratory:

Currently use with LIS Currently use with Middleware Currently use  Spreadsheet Software (e.g. Excel) Plan to use dedicated software in the next 12 months Do not use
Result reporting 132 10 0 1 0
Age gender related rules 131 7 0 1 4
Generation of statistics reports 103 11 3 4 22
Turnaround time monitoring 79 11 9 8 36
QC monitoring 90 25 4 4 20
Sample archiving 84 13 3 3 40
Color coded result reporting 86 10 1 4 42
Delta checks 81 9 2 8 43
Westgard rules 76 16 3 6 42
Serum index checks 67 14 4 6 52
Patient result monitoring using floating median / moving averages 45 14 4 11 69

Q35 Use of advanced IT solutions

Combined:

Currently use Plan to use in the next 12 months Do not use
Reagent supply monitoring 295 97 357
Audit trail end to end traceability for reagents controls and consumables 288 75 386
Sample location tracking throughout the lab 259 71 419
Real time turnaround time monitoring, e.g. Andon board 214 66 469
Instrument Capacity monitoring 196 70 483
Information Dashboard to display KPIs 140 100 509
Smartphone related alerts and applications 131 52 566

Government hospital laboratory:

Currently use Plan to use in the next 12 months Do not use
Reagent supply monitoring 178 74 225
Audit trail end to end traceability for reagents controls and consumables 170 52 255
Sample location tracking throughout the lab 159 44 274
Real time turnaround time monitoring, e.g. Andon board 143 41 293
Instrument Capacity monitoring 112 55 310
Information Dashboard to display KPIs 90 61 326
Smartphone related alerts and applications 46 30 401

Private hospital laboratory:

Currently use Plan to use in the next 12 months Do not use
Reagent supply monitoring 48 12 69
Audit trail end to end traceability for reagents controls and consumables 38 13 78
Sample location tracking throughout the lab 34 16 79
Real time turnaround time monitoring, e.g. Andon board 38 17 74
Instrument Capacity monitoring 31 12 86
Information Dashboard to display KPIs 25 19 85
Smartphone related alerts and applications 23 12 94

Commercial laboratory:

Currently use Plan to use in the next 12 months Do not use
Reagent supply monitoring 69 11 63
Audit trail end to end traceability for reagents controls and consumables 80 10 53
Sample location tracking throughout the lab 66 11 66
Real time turnaround time monitoring, e.g. Andon board 33 8 102
Instrument Capacity monitoring 53 3 87
Information Dashboard to display KPIs 25 20 98
Smartphone related alerts and applications 62 10 71

Q36 Number of FTEs overall

Combined:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 733 0 2 4 7.3 8 100 6 10.6
Analytical 717 0 6 11 17.0 20 100 14 18.7
Post-analytical 733 0 2 3 6.1 7 100 5 8.8

Government hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 464 0 2.0 4 7.2 7.2 100 5.2 10.2
Analytical 452 0 6.0 12 18.1 22.0 100 16.0 19.4
Post-analytical 463 0 1.5 4 6.6 8.0 100 6.5 9.2

Private hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 127 0 2 4 5.7 7 50 5 6.6
Analytical 125 0 6 9 13.9 15 100 9 14.1
Post-analytical 127 0 1 3 4.4 6 30 5 5.3

Commercial laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 142 0 2 4 8.9 9 100 7 14.0
Analytical 140 1 5 10 16.3 17 100 12 19.8
Post-analytical 143 0 2 3 6.2 7 55 5 9.7

Q37 Number of FTEs in specialties

Combined:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 717 0 2 3 4.0 5 20 3 3.9
Immunoassays 715 0 1 2 3.4 4 20 3 3.5
Haematology 713 0 1 2 2.9 4 20 3 3.0
Coagulation 713 0 1 1 1.9 2 20 1 2.3
Urinalysis 717 0 1 1 2.0 2 20 1 2.4
Bacteriology 693 0 0 1 2.5 3 20 3 3.6
Routine Molecular 700 0 0 0 1.1 1 15 1 2.0
Specialized Molecular 700 0 0 0 0.6 0 17 0 1.8

Government hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 451 0 2 3 4.3 5 20 3 4.2
Immunoassays 449 0 1 2 3.5 4 20 3 3.6
Haematology 448 0 1 2 3.0 4 20 3 3.3
Coagulation 446 0 1 1 1.9 2 20 1 2.3
Urinalysis 451 0 1 1 2.1 2 20 1 2.7
Bacteriology 431 0 0 1 2.4 3 20 3 3.7
Routine Molecular 440 0 0 0 1.1 1 12 1 2.0
Specialized Molecular 439 0 0 0 0.7 0 17 0 1.9

Private hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 126 0 1.2 3 3.7 5 20 3.8 3.5
Immunoassays 127 0 1.0 2 3.3 4 20 3.0 3.3
Haematology 125 0 1.0 2 2.7 3 15 2.0 2.3
Coagulation 127 0 1.0 1 2.0 2 20 1.0 2.6
Urinalysis 126 0 1.0 1 1.9 2 10 1.0 1.6
Bacteriology 122 0 1.0 2 2.7 3 20 2.0 3.1
Routine Molecular 122 0 0.0 0 0.9 1 8 1.0 1.5
Specialized Molecular 122 0 0.0 0 0.5 0 10 0.0 1.6

Commercial laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 140 1 1 2 3.3 4 17 3 2.9
Immunoassays 139 0 1 2 3.2 4 20 3 3.3
Haematology 140 0 1 2 2.7 3 14 2 2.5
Coagulation 140 0 1 1 1.7 2 14 1 2.1
Urinalysis 140 0 1 1 1.7 2 14 1 2.1
Bacteriology 140 0 0 2 2.8 3 20 3 3.9
Routine Molecular 138 0 0 0 1.4 2 15 2 2.4
Specialized Molecular 139 0 0 0 0.5 0 8 0 1.2

Q38 Labor shortage

Combined:

Higher level skilled technologists Lower level less skilled technicians
There is a major labor shortage 100 48
6 82 95
5 55 56
neutral 147 181
3 94 80
2 97 64
There is no labor shortage at all 160 211

Government hospital laboratory:

Higher level skilled technologists Lower level less skilled technicians
There is a major labor shortage 72 36
6 52 67
5 33 31
neutral 83 106
3 62 49
2 67 44
There is no labor shortage at all 96 132

Private hospital laboratory:

Higher level skilled technologists Lower level less skilled technicians
There is a major labor shortage 12 5
6 13 9
5 11 13
neutral 29 39
3 16 13
2 17 9
There is no labor shortage at all 29 39

Commercial laboratory:

Higher level skilled technologists Lower level less skilled technicians
There is a major labor shortage 16 7
6 17 19
5 11 12
neutral 35 36
3 16 18
2 13 11
There is no labor shortage at all 35 40

Q39 Floor area overall

Combined:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 735 25 25 37.5 60.2 75 400 50 69.6
Analytical 735 25 75 175.0 188.5 325 400 250 137.6
Post-analytical 735 25 25 37.5 57.9 75 400 50 65.0

Government hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 465 25 25 37.5 60.3 75 400 50 65.0
Analytical 465 25 75 175.0 196.2 325 400 250 137.3
Post-analytical 465 25 25 37.5 56.8 75 400 50 61.7

Private hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 127 25 25 25.0 45.1 37.5 325 12.5 42.2
Analytical 127 25 75 125.0 165.1 225.0 400 150.0 132.0
Post-analytical 127 25 25 37.5 51.4 56.2 225 31.2 47.5

Commercial laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Pre-analytical 143 25 25.0 37.5 73.4 75 400 50.0 96.5
Analytical 143 25 37.5 175.0 184.2 325 400 287.5 142.2
Post-analytical 143 25 25.0 37.5 67.0 75 400 50.0 85.4

Q40 Floor area in specialties

Combined:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 735 0 7.5 25.0 37.4 55 100 47.5 34.6
Immunoassays 735 0 7.5 25.0 35.0 55 100 47.5 33.6
Haematology 735 0 2.5 15.0 22.9 35 100 32.5 26.5
Coagulation 735 0 2.5 7.5 15.6 25 100 22.5 21.4
Urinalysis 735 0 2.5 7.5 13.7 15 100 12.5 18.0
Bacteriology 735 0 0.0 7.5 23.2 35 100 35.0 33.2
Routine Molecular 735 0 0.0 0.0 13.7 15 100 15.0 25.1
Specialized Molecular 735 0 0.0 0.0 7.6 0 100 0.0 20.0

Government hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 465 0 7.5 25.0 40.6 75 100 67.5 35.4
Immunoassays 465 0 7.5 25.0 38.1 65 100 57.5 34.6
Haematology 465 0 2.5 15.0 23.8 35 100 32.5 27.5
Coagulation 465 0 2.5 7.5 17.0 25 100 22.5 23.0
Urinalysis 465 0 2.5 7.5 14.8 25 100 22.5 19.4
Bacteriology 465 0 0.0 2.5 22.9 35 100 35.0 34.2
Routine Molecular 465 0 0.0 0.0 13.0 15 100 15.0 24.6
Specialized Molecular 465 0 0.0 0.0 8.0 0 100 0.0 20.4

Private hospital laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 127 0 7.5 15.0 28.1 35 100 27.5 31.4
Immunoassays 127 0 7.5 15.0 24.7 35 100 27.5 28.1
Haematology 127 0 2.5 7.5 17.5 25 100 22.5 21.2
Coagulation 127 0 2.5 7.5 13.5 15 100 12.5 19.0
Urinalysis 127 0 2.5 7.5 11.6 15 100 12.5 15.8
Bacteriology 127 0 2.5 15.0 21.4 25 100 22.5 26.6
Routine Molecular 127 0 0.0 0.0 10.7 15 100 15.0 19.7
Specialized Molecular 127 0 0.0 0.0 6.2 0 100 0.0 18.4

Commercial laboratory:

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 143 0 7.5 25.0 35.1 45 100 37.5 33.4
Immunoassays 143 0 7.5 25.0 34.0 45 100 37.5 33.0
Haematology 143 0 2.5 15.0 24.6 35 100 32.5 27.2
Coagulation 143 0 2.5 7.5 13.0 15 100 12.5 17.4
Urinalysis 143 0 2.5 7.5 12.0 15 75 12.5 14.6
Bacteriology 143 0 0.0 7.5 25.7 35 100 35.0 35.1
Routine Molecular 143 0 0.0 0.0 18.5 25 100 25.0 30.1
Specialized Molecular 143 0 0.0 0.0 7.3 0 100 0.0 20.1

Items 41-50

Q41 Manufacturers

To keep respondents anonymous, this item has not been analyzed (cf. Introduction).

Q42 Use of pre-analytical automation

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 280
Plan to have in the next 12 months 91
Do not have 364

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 207 26 47
Plan to have in the next 12 months 50 23 18
Do not have 208 78 78

Q43 Throughput

Primary tubes per day

Combined:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 691 125 125 375 835 750 6500 625 1052
Immunoassays 704 125 125 375 552 750 6500 625 795
Haematology 658 125 125 375 596 750 6500 625 799
Coagulation 630 125 125 125 289 375 3500 250 373
Urinalysis 644 125 125 125 316 375 5500 250 498
Bacteriology 419 125 125 125 265 125 5500 0 479
Routine Molecular 275 125 125 125 197 125 3500 0 322
Specialized Molecular 136 125 125 125 193 125 6500 0 560

Government hospital laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 429 125 375 375 912 1500 6500 1125 1034
Immunoassays 445 125 125 375 581 750 6500 625 786
Haematology 397 125 125 375 685 750 6500 625 847
Coagulation 381 125 125 125 333 375 3500 250 397
Urinalysis 402 125 125 125 341 375 5500 250 465
Bacteriology 227 125 125 125 280 375 5500 250 519
Routine Molecular 167 125 125 125 157 125 750 0 106
Specialized Molecular 89 125 125 125 205 125 6500 0 676

Private hospital laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 123 125 125 125 421 375 4500 250 581
Immunoassays 121 125 125 125 267 375 1500 250 303
Haematology 122 125 125 125 287 375 3500 250 360
Coagulation 122 125 125 125 164 125 750 0 127
Urinalysis 119 125 125 125 166 125 750 0 121
Bacteriology 97 125 125 125 165 125 750 0 104
Routine Molecular 54 125 125 125 150 125 1500 0 187
Specialized Molecular 24 125 125 125 182 125 1500 0 281

Commercial laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 139 125 125 375 964 1500 6500 1375 1316
Immunoassays 138 125 125 375 707 750 6500 625 1032
Haematology 139 125 125 125 613 750 5500 625 871
Coagulation 127 125 125 125 275 125 3500 0 427
Urinalysis 123 125 125 125 379 375 5500 250 744
Bacteriology 95 125 125 125 333 375 3500 250 588
Routine Molecular 54 125 125 125 366 375 3500 250 656
Specialized Molecular 23 125 125 125 158 125 375 0 86

Tests per sample

Combined:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 658 1 5 8 9 12 20 7 4
Immunoassays 687 1 3 4 5 5 20 2 3
Haematology 539 1 1 2 5 8 20 7 6
Coagulation 598 1 2 3 3 4 20 2 2
Urinalysis 591 1 1 2 5 10 20 9 5
Bacteriology 361 1 1 2 3 3 20 2 3
Routine Molecular 243 1 1 2 3 4 16 4 3
Specialized Molecular 119 1 1 1 2 3 15 2 2

Government hospital laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 411 1 7 10 10 12 20 5 4
Immunoassays 439 1 3 4 5 6 20 3 3
Haematology 322 1 1 2 5 10 20 9 6
Coagulation 362 1 2 3 3 4 20 2 2
Urinalysis 370 1 1 3 6 10 20 9 5
Bacteriology 186 1 1 2 3 3 20 2 3
Routine Molecular 143 1 1 2 3 4 12 3 2
Specialized Molecular 74 1 1 1 2 3 12 2 2

Private hospital laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 113 1 5 6 7 10 20 5 4
Immunoassays 113 1 3 3 5 5 20 2 3
Haematology 102 1 1 1 4 4 20 3 5
Coagulation 113 1 2 3 3 3 17 1 3
Urinalysis 109 1 1 2 5 10 20 9 5
Bacteriology 90 1 1 1 2 2 20 1 3
Routine Molecular 46 1 1 2 3 4 16 3 3
Specialized Molecular 22 1 1 1 3 3 15 2 4

Commercial laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 134 2 5 7 8 10 17 5 4
Immunoassays 135 1 3 4 5 5 19 2 3
Haematology 115 1 1 2 5 8 20 7 6
Coagulation 123 1 2 3 3 3 15 1 2
Urinalysis 112 1 1 3 6 10 20 9 5
Bacteriology 85 1 1 2 3 3 10 2 2
Routine Molecular 54 1 1 3 4 5 16 4 3
Specialized Molecular 23 1 1 1 2 3 5 2 1

Q44 Integration

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes, we work with integrated (and individual) CC and IA instruments in the same laboratory 400
Yes, we only work with individual CC and IA instruments in the same laboratory 257
No, CC and IA instruments stand in different laboratories 78

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes, we work with integrated (and individual) CC and IA instruments in the same laboratory 245 68 87
Yes, we only work with individual CC and IA instruments in the same laboratory 152 54 51
No, CC and IA instruments stand in different laboratories 68 5 5

Q45 Configurations

To keep respondents anonymous, this item has not been analyzed (cf. Introduction).

Q46 Number of analyzers

Combined:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 719 0 1 2 2 3 15 2 2
Immunoassays 723 0 1 2 3 4 15 3 3
Haematology 727 0 2 2 3 3 15 1 2
Coagulation 727 0 1 2 2 2 15 1 1
Urinalysis 726 0 1 1 2 2 15 1 2
Bacteriology 708 0 0 1 1 2 15 2 2
Routine Molecular 711 0 0 0 1 1 15 1 2
Specialized Molecular 707 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 1

Government hospital laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 455 0 1 2 2 3 15 2 2
Immunoassays 458 0 2 3 3 4 15 2 3
Haematology 460 0 2 2 3 3 15 1 2
Coagulation 460 0 1 2 2 2 15 1 1
Urinalysis 460 0 1 1 2 2 15 1 2
Bacteriology 447 0 0 0 1 2 15 2 2
Routine Molecular 452 0 0 0 1 1 15 1 2
Specialized Molecular 448 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1

Private hospital laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 126 0 1 2 2 2 15 1 2
Immunoassays 126 0 2 2 3 3 15 1 2
Haematology 126 0 2 2 2 2 10 0 1
Coagulation 126 0 1 2 2 2 5 1 1
Urinalysis 126 0 1 1 1 2 15 1 1
Bacteriology 122 0 1 1 1 2 7 1 1
Routine Molecular 122 0 0 0 1 1 15 1 2
Specialized Molecular 122 0 0 0 1 0 15 0 2

Commercial laboratory:

Specialty n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Clinical chemistry 138 0 1 2 2 2 7 1 1
Immunoassays 139 0 1 2 3 4 15 3 4
Haematology 141 0 1 2 2 3 10 2 2
Coagulation 141 0 1 1 1 2 6 1 1
Urinalysis 140 0 1 1 1 2 10 1 2
Bacteriology 139 0 0 1 1 2 10 2 2
Routine Molecular 137 0 0 0 1 2 15 2 3
Specialized Molecular 137 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 2

Q47 Connection to automated sample transportation

Combined:

We have only track connected analysers We have only standalone analysers We have both, standalone and track connected analysers Plan to connect in next 12 months N/A
Integrated CC+IA 90 118 38 34 451
Clinical chemistry (CC) 121 133 42 33 402
Immunoassays (IA) 92 150 74 33 382
Haematology 57 237 31 29 377
Coagulation 39 258 20 25 389
Urinalysis 17 260 11 13 430
Bacteriology 8 205 4 6 508
Routine Molecular 3 165 4 4 555
Specialized Molecular 1 94 2 4 630

Government hospital laboratory:

We have only track connected analysers We have only standalone analysers We have both, standalone and track connected analysers Plan to connect in next 12 months N/A
Integrated CC+IA 59 81 28 26 268
Clinical chemistry (CC) 86 94 32 22 228
Immunoassays (IA) 61 106 57 22 216
Haematology 40 162 22 17 221
Coagulation 28 176 18 14 226
Urinalysis 9 189 5 7 252
Bacteriology 5 137 2 4 314
Routine Molecular 1 104 3 3 351
Specialized Molecular 0 63 2 3 394

Private hospital laboratory:

We have only track connected analysers We have only standalone analysers We have both, standalone and track connected analysers Plan to connect in next 12 months N/A
Integrated CC+IA 13 16 6 4 88
Clinical chemistry (CC) 13 19 3 7 85
Immunoassays (IA) 12 20 5 8 82
Haematology 5 36 3 8 75
Coagulation 6 36 0 7 78
Urinalysis 2 38 2 4 81
Bacteriology 1 35 0 2 89
Routine Molecular 0 33 0 1 93
Specialized Molecular 0 18 0 1 108

Commercial laboratory:

We have only track connected analysers We have only standalone analysers We have both, standalone and track connected analysers Plan to connect in next 12 months N/A
Integrated CC+IA 18 21 4 4 95
Clinical chemistry (CC) 22 20 7 4 89
Immunoassays (IA) 19 24 12 3 84
Haematology 12 39 6 4 81
Coagulation 5 46 2 4 85
Urinalysis 6 33 4 2 97
Bacteriology 2 33 2 0 105
Routine Molecular 2 28 1 0 111
Specialized Molecular 1 13 0 0 128

Q48 Aliquots from primary tube

Combined:

Answer Frequency
Yes 507
No 224

By laboratory type:

Government hospital laboratory Private hospital laboratory Commercial laboratory
Yes 306 101 100
No 156 26 42

Q49 Approximate number of aliquots per sample

n Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. IQR SD
Combined 500 0 1 2 2.6 3 20 2 3.4
Government hospital laboratory 302 0 1 2 2.5 3 20 2 3.3
Private hospital laboratory 98 0 1 2 3.1 3 20 2 3.7
Commercial laboratory 100 0 1 2 2.6 2 20 1 3.6

Q50 Main reasons for aliquots

Combined:

Is a reason Is not a reason
For send out to other laboratories 364 136
For other instruments in the laboratory parallel workflow 334 166
For long time archiving 245 255
To assure sample integrity of the primary sample 120 380

Government hospital laboratory:

Is a reason Is not a reason
For send out to other laboratories 197 105
For other instruments in the laboratory parallel workflow 219 83
For long time archiving 152 150
To assure sample integrity of the primary sample 75 227

Private hospital laboratory:

Is a reason Is not a reason
For send out to other laboratories 78 20
For other instruments in the laboratory parallel workflow 53 45
For long time archiving 49 49
To assure sample integrity of the primary sample 28 70

Commercial laboratory:

Is a reason Is not a reason
For send out to other laboratories 89 11
For other instruments in the laboratory parallel workflow 62 38
For long time archiving 44 56
To assure sample integrity of the primary sample 17 83

Factor analysis

Exploratory factor analysis

The number of principal components used for factor analysis was identified using a scree plot, the dashed line represents an ordinary least squares linear regression fit through points 4 to 20:

Exploratory factor analysis with OBLIMIN rotation:

## Principal Components Analysis
## Call: psych::principal(r = df.ordered.scaled, nfactors = 3, rotate = "oblimin", 
##     scores = TRUE)
## Standardized loadings (pattern matrix) based upon correlation matrix
##             TC1   TC3   TC2   h2   u2 com
## q09        0.45 -0.22  0.22 0.27 0.73 2.0
## q11        0.55  0.24  0.01 0.44 0.56 1.4
## q12        0.37  0.49  0.01 0.49 0.51 1.9
## q13        0.06  0.26  0.47 0.33 0.67 1.6
## q15        0.64  0.23 -0.14 0.52 0.48 1.4
## q16        0.76 -0.09 -0.04 0.53 0.47 1.0
## q21        0.68 -0.17  0.02 0.43 0.57 1.1
## q25        0.12  0.43  0.12 0.26 0.74 1.3
## q27       -0.07  0.59  0.01 0.33 0.67 1.0
## q28       -0.10  0.55 -0.15 0.29 0.71 1.2
## q29        0.04  0.47  0.13 0.26 0.74 1.2
## q30       -0.07  0.58  0.08 0.32 0.68 1.1
## q31        0.07  0.50 -0.03 0.28 0.72 1.0
## q33       -0.17  0.00  0.33 0.12 0.88 1.5
## q34        0.45  0.14  0.36 0.47 0.53 2.1
## q35        0.43  0.18  0.25 0.37 0.63 2.0
## q36_q43.p -0.08 -0.07  0.64 0.39 0.61 1.1
## q39_q43.p  0.02 -0.07  0.53 0.29 0.71 1.0
## q42       -0.02  0.04  0.71 0.50 0.50 1.0
## q44        0.05 -0.16  0.34 0.13 0.87 1.5
## 
##                        TC1  TC3  TC2
## SS loadings           2.70 2.33 2.01
## Proportion Var        0.13 0.12 0.10
## Cumulative Var        0.13 0.25 0.35
## Proportion Explained  0.38 0.33 0.29
## Cumulative Proportion 0.38 0.71 1.00
## 
##  With component correlations of 
##      TC1  TC3  TC2
## TC1 1.00 0.29 0.21
## TC3 0.29 1.00 0.09
## TC2 0.21 0.09 1.00
## 
## Mean item complexity =  1.4
## Test of the hypothesis that 3 components are sufficient.
## 
## The root mean square of the residuals (RMSR) is  0.08 
##  with the empirical chi square  1668.07  with prob <  2.1e-263 
## 
## Fit based upon off diagonal values = 0.8

Confirmatory factor analysis

Model specification:

## TC1 =~ q09 + q11 + q15 + q16 + q21 + q34 + q35
## TC2 =~ q13 + q33 + q36_q43.p + q39_q43.p + q42 + q44
## TC3 =~ q12 + q25 + q27 + q28 + q29 + q30 + q31

Commonly used fit indices:

## rmsea   cfi  srmr 
## 0.062 0.945 0.076

Factors, corresponding items, and short descriptions:

##    Factor      Item                                         Description
## 1     TC1       q09                       Certification / Accreditation
## 2     TC1       q11                      Laboratory improvement program
## 3     TC1       q15          Type of TAT monitored (if TAT used as KPI)
## 4     TC1       q16                        Frequency of TAT measurement
## 5     TC1       q21               TAT monitored for very specific assay
## 6     TC1       q34                           Use of basic IT solutions
## 7     TC1       q35                        Use of advanced IT solutions
## 8     TC2       q13                              Use of auto-validation
## 9     TC2       q33                         Percent of digital ordering
## 10    TC2 q36_q43.p          Primary tubes (clinical chemistry) per FTE
## 11    TC2 q39_q43.p Primary tubes (clinical chemistry) per square meter
## 12    TC2       q42                    Use of pre-analytical automation
## 13    TC2       q44                                         Integration
## 14    TC3       q12                          Key Performance Indicators
## 15    TC3       q25                     Services provided to physicians
## 16    TC3       q27                               Diagnostic committees
## 17    TC3       q28                       Review of diagnostic pathways
## 18    TC3       q29                              Utilization management
## 19    TC3       q30     Combining data digitally with other disciplines
## 20    TC3       q31                     Measurement of patient outcomes

Rough estimate for internal consistency (overall and for subscales):

## 
## Reliability analysis   
## Call: psych::alpha(x = df.ordered.scaled)
## 
##   raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r S/N   ase    mean   sd median_r
##       0.75      0.75    0.78      0.13 2.9 0.013 1.7e-17 0.41     0.12
## 
##  lower alpha upper     95% confidence boundaries
## 0.72 0.75 0.77 
## 
##  Reliability if an item is dropped:
##           raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r S/N alpha se var.r med.r
## q09            0.74      0.74    0.77      0.13 2.9    0.014 0.013  0.12
## q11            0.72      0.72    0.75      0.12 2.6    0.014 0.012  0.11
## q12            0.72      0.72    0.75      0.12 2.6    0.015 0.011  0.11
## q13            0.73      0.73    0.76      0.13 2.7    0.014 0.013  0.11
## q15            0.73      0.73    0.75      0.12 2.6    0.014 0.011  0.11
## q16            0.73      0.73    0.75      0.12 2.7    0.014 0.012  0.12
## q21            0.73      0.73    0.76      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.12
## q25            0.74      0.74    0.77      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.12
## q27            0.74      0.74    0.77      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.12
## q28            0.75      0.75    0.77      0.14 3.0    0.013 0.013  0.13
## q29            0.74      0.74    0.77      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.11
## q30            0.74      0.74    0.77      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.12
## q31            0.74      0.74    0.77      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.12
## q33            0.76      0.76    0.78      0.14 3.1    0.013 0.012  0.13
## q34            0.72      0.72    0.75      0.12 2.6    0.015 0.011  0.11
## q35            0.73      0.73    0.75      0.12 2.7    0.014 0.012  0.11
## q36_q43.p      0.75      0.75    0.77      0.13 2.9    0.013 0.013  0.13
## q39_q43.p      0.75      0.75    0.77      0.13 2.9    0.013 0.013  0.13
## q42            0.73      0.73    0.76      0.13 2.8    0.014 0.013  0.11
## q44            0.75      0.75    0.78      0.14 3.0    0.013 0.012  0.13
## 
##  Item statistics 
##             n raw.r std.r r.cor r.drop     mean sd
## q09       759  0.36  0.36  0.30  0.252  2.1e-16  1
## q11       759  0.57  0.57  0.55  0.478  3.7e-17  1
## q12       759  0.58  0.58  0.57  0.486 -9.0e-18  1
## q13       759  0.46  0.46  0.41  0.356 -2.5e-17  1
## q15       759  0.54  0.54  0.53  0.443  9.7e-17  1
## q16       759  0.51  0.51  0.50  0.416 -6.4e-17  1
## q21       759  0.44  0.44  0.40  0.339 -9.0e-17  1
## q25       759  0.43  0.43  0.38  0.326  2.3e-17  1
## q27       759  0.38  0.38  0.31  0.268 -5.3e-17  1
## q28       759  0.27  0.27  0.19  0.158  3.1e-17  1
## q29       759  0.42  0.42  0.36  0.312  8.3e-17  1
## q30       759  0.39  0.39  0.32  0.277 -2.3e-16  1
## q31       759  0.40  0.40  0.34  0.294  1.8e-16  1
## q33       759  0.16  0.16  0.06  0.043 -1.7e-16  1
## q34       759  0.60  0.60  0.60  0.518 -1.6e-16  1
## q35       759  0.53  0.53  0.51  0.437  6.0e-17  1
## q36_q43.p 759  0.30  0.30  0.22  0.182  4.6e-17  1
## q39_q43.p 759  0.30  0.30  0.22  0.189  1.3e-17  1
## q42       759  0.43  0.43  0.39  0.328  9.8e-17  1
## q44       759  0.21  0.21  0.11  0.089  2.6e-16  1
## 
## Reliability analysis   
## Call: psych::alpha(x = df.ordered.scaled[, colnames(df.ordered.scaled) %in% 
##     interpretation$Item[interpretation$Factor == "TC1"]])
## 
##   raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r S/N   ase    mean   sd median_r
##       0.73      0.73    0.73      0.28 2.7 0.015 1.3e-17 0.62     0.27
## 
##  lower alpha upper     95% confidence boundaries
## 0.7 0.73 0.76 
## 
##  Reliability if an item is dropped:
##     raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r S/N alpha se var.r med.r
## q09      0.73      0.73    0.73      0.32 2.8    0.015 0.010  0.30
## q11      0.69      0.69    0.69      0.27 2.2    0.018 0.017  0.25
## q15      0.69      0.69    0.68      0.28 2.3    0.017 0.010  0.26
## q16      0.68      0.68    0.67      0.26 2.1    0.018 0.011  0.26
## q21      0.70      0.70    0.70      0.28 2.4    0.017 0.015  0.28
## q34      0.68      0.68    0.67      0.27 2.2    0.018 0.013  0.26
## q35      0.70      0.70    0.68      0.28 2.3    0.017 0.012  0.27
## 
##  Item statistics 
##       n raw.r std.r r.cor r.drop     mean sd
## q09 759  0.49  0.49  0.34   0.28  2.1e-16  1
## q11 759  0.65  0.65  0.56   0.49  3.7e-17  1
## q15 759  0.63  0.63  0.55   0.45  9.7e-17  1
## q16 759  0.67  0.67  0.61   0.51 -6.4e-17  1
## q21 759  0.60  0.60  0.50   0.42 -9.0e-17  1
## q34 759  0.66  0.66  0.59   0.50 -1.6e-16  1
## q35 759  0.62  0.62  0.54   0.45  6.0e-17  1
## 
## Reliability analysis   
## Call: psych::alpha(x = df.ordered.scaled[, colnames(df.ordered.scaled) %in% 
##     interpretation$Item[interpretation$Factor == "TC2"]])
## 
##   raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r  S/N   ase    mean   sd median_r
##       0.49      0.49    0.46      0.14 0.94 0.029 3.7e-17 0.53     0.15
## 
##  lower alpha upper     95% confidence boundaries
## 0.43 0.49 0.54 
## 
##  Reliability if an item is dropped:
##           raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r  S/N alpha se  var.r med.r
## q13            0.45      0.45    0.41     0.140 0.82    0.032 0.0082 0.146
## q33            0.51      0.51    0.47     0.171 1.03    0.028 0.0091 0.168
## q36_q43.p      0.39      0.39    0.37     0.114 0.64    0.035 0.0104 0.118
## q39_q43.p      0.44      0.44    0.41     0.135 0.78    0.032 0.0092 0.146
## q42            0.34      0.34    0.32     0.095 0.52    0.038 0.0080 0.079
## q44            0.49      0.49    0.45     0.159 0.94    0.029 0.0110 0.160
## 
##  Item statistics 
##             n raw.r std.r r.cor r.drop     mean sd
## q13       759  0.51  0.51  0.34   0.23 -2.5e-17  1
## q33       759  0.42  0.42  0.16   0.11 -1.7e-16  1
## q36_q43.p 759  0.60  0.60  0.48   0.33  4.6e-17  1
## q39_q43.p 759  0.53  0.53  0.37   0.25  1.3e-17  1
## q42       759  0.66  0.66  0.59   0.41  9.8e-17  1
## q44       759  0.46  0.46  0.23   0.16  2.6e-16  1
## 
## Reliability analysis   
## Call: psych::alpha(x = df.ordered.scaled[, colnames(df.ordered.scaled) %in% 
##     interpretation$Item[interpretation$Factor == "TC3"]])
## 
##   raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r S/N   ase    mean   sd median_r
##       0.62      0.62     0.6      0.19 1.7 0.021 5.1e-18 0.55     0.21
## 
##  lower alpha upper     95% confidence boundaries
## 0.58 0.62 0.66 
## 
##  Reliability if an item is dropped:
##     raw_alpha std.alpha G6(smc) average_r S/N alpha se  var.r med.r
## q12      0.56      0.56    0.53      0.18 1.3    0.025 0.0035  0.17
## q25      0.60      0.60    0.56      0.20 1.5    0.023 0.0032  0.21
## q27      0.59      0.59    0.55      0.19 1.4    0.023 0.0040  0.21
## q28      0.60      0.60    0.57      0.20 1.5    0.022 0.0025  0.21
## q29      0.59      0.59    0.55      0.19 1.4    0.023 0.0035  0.21
## q30      0.58      0.58    0.55      0.19 1.4    0.023 0.0043  0.18
## q31      0.58      0.58    0.55      0.19 1.4    0.023 0.0042  0.21
## 
##  Item statistics 
##       n raw.r std.r r.cor r.drop     mean sd
## q12 759  0.62  0.62  0.52   0.41 -9.0e-18  1
## q25 759  0.53  0.53  0.40   0.31  2.3e-17  1
## q27 759  0.55  0.55  0.42   0.33 -5.3e-17  1
## q28 759  0.51  0.51  0.36   0.28  3.1e-17  1
## q29 759  0.55  0.55  0.43   0.33  8.3e-17  1
## q30 759  0.56  0.56  0.43   0.34 -2.3e-16  1
## q31 759  0.56  0.56  0.44   0.34  1.8e-16  1

Fitted values

To aid in interpretation, fitted values for each factor were scaled so that they had a median of 100 and interquartile range (IQR) of 40.

Minimum, 1st quartile, median, mean, 3rd quartile, and maximum of fitted values per factor:

##               TC1       TC2       TC3
## Min.     25.05849  53.86188  38.01975
## 1st Qu.  79.64756  84.13787  79.32972
## Median  100.00000 100.00000 100.00000
## Mean     99.02431 105.42738 100.39185
## 3rd Qu. 119.64756 124.13787 119.32972
## Max.    166.04166 346.02059 177.36106

Standard deviation of fitted values per factor:

##      TC1      TC2      TC3 
## 26.90987 28.73592 28.12970

Interquartile range (IQR) of fitted values per factor:

## TC1 TC2 TC3 
##  40  40  40