Medical University Graz

With about 2.400 employees and more than 4.300 students, the Medical University of Graz is a centre of innovative university medicine in the south of Austria. The university stands for education with an international reputation, innovative research and first-class patient care.

• 2.400 employees
• more than 4.300 students
• 3 research centres
• 19 university hosptials
• 100.000 surgical and biopsy specimens processed per year at the Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology

Problem

The Medical University of Graz was looking for a solution to quickly alert medical specialists and biomedical analysts when tissue samples are received.

The following criteria were essential:

• reliable notification
• ease of use
• immediate replies of the individuals alerted
• provision of a protocol for traceability

Solution

The safeREACH Cockpit is used for alarm triggering to notify all persons responsible for the examination when a sample arrives at the Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology. The required persons receive the alert via app or SMS and acknowledge the work order in real time. A protocol is generated automatically. The implementation of safeREACH was easy and quickly proceeded from test to live operation.

Why did you look for a rapid alert tool?

We used beepers to notify our biomedical analysts and doctors. After switching off the beepers, we looked for a product that would support us in notifying them.

It was also customary for us to be notified by telephone. Here, however, there were delays in notification. This process had to be simplified and made more efficient.

Where do you see the advantages of safeREACH?

safeREACH enables us to start the alarm process quickly and easily via the cockpit. The colleagues then receive the alarm via app or SMS. Through the reply function, we know immediately whether the alerted persons have received the alarm and are available.

For us, ease of use was a criterion for selecting the system. safeREACH was immediately understandable, no lengthy training was necessary and we were able to move quickly from test to live operation.

Another advantage is the protocol. This makes it possible to clearly understand who was alerted, when, how and whether replies were given after the alert.

For which use cases do you use safeREACH?

Our main use case is the “frozen section” scenario. A frozen section is an examination of tissue samples that is performed during an operation. The surgeon sends the sample to us in the pathology department. The safeREACH Cockpit is open on the desktop in the specimen reception area. The scenario displayed there and configured in advance is triggered when the sample arrives and the appropriate persons are alerted. Then the sample is examined and the result is passed on to the surgical team.

We regularly trigger this scenario between two to ten times a day. The process has to work as quickly as possible because the patient is still under anaesthesia and the surgical team is waiting for the result.

Another use case is in the planning phase: alerting via an API when certain threshold values for reagent refrigeration units are exceeded or values fall below a certain limit.

How do you feel about working with safeREACH?

The cooperation is very pleasant. There is prompt support for questions and notifications when there is important news about the system or new features are available.

If you had to describe safeREACH in three words, which ones come to mind?

Reliable. Simplifies workflows. Price/performance ratio is right.