Sysmex America to Enable Prolonged Hematology Instrument Uptime for Hagerstown Medical Laboratory with 1,000th SNCS Activation

2008/06/10

Media Contact: 

Tammy Kutz, Manager, Media & Events
Sysmex America, Inc.
communications@sysmex.com

Mundelein, Illinois, June 10, 2008 – Sysmex America, Inc. (SAI), today announced the 1,000th activation for its Sysmex Network Communications System (SNCS) at Hagerstown Medical Laboratory, Maryland.  SNCS is a remote “real-time” monitoring system that continuously collects and tracks instrument performance data from Sysmex analyzers and links them to Sysmex Service and Support.  SNCS enables proactive response to potential instrument problems, thereby reducing the number of unscheduled service calls and laboratory down-time, said John Kershaw, President, Sysmex America.  SNCS, introduced by SAI in 4th quarter 2006, can be used with the Sysmex® XE-Series, XT-Series, XS-Series, SP-Series and HST hematology products.  Hagerstown Medical Laboratory is a full-service clinical laboratory serving a four-state area 24-hours daily, seven days weekly.

“Hagerstown Medical Laboratory and Sysmex America share a mutual commitment to quality healthcare.  We believe that SNCS complements Sysmex’s instrument reliability and will fully give us the confidence we need to provide consistent clinical laboratory results for physicians and their affiliated healthcare institutions in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia,” said Kathy Jones, MT, ASCP, Technical Specialist, Hematology, with Hagerstown Medical Laboratory.  Currently, Hagerstown Medical Laboratory processes more than 13,000 tests monthly.  Hagerstown Medical Laboratory equipment utilizing SNCS includes two Sysmex XE-2100 and two XT-1800 automated hematology analyzers. 

“Sysmex hematology analyzers already own a statistically remarkable mean time between equipment failures, ranking the industry’s best in performance and reliability.  However, we wanted to offer Hagerstown Medical Laboratory, like all our customers, an even greater degree of reliability with SNCS,” said Kershaw.

SNCS benefits Sysmex customers by transmitting their instrument performance data on a real-time basis to Sysmex’s database server located in Mundelein.  This generates a technical review of any critical errors that may be developing behind the scenes in the instrument – mechanical errors possibly unknown by the customer.

Once a technical review of critical errors has been generated, an alert is signaled to Sysmex’s service, field engineer, and applications specialist teams for process review and handling, resulting in a variety of responses from the Sysmex teams including direct-to-customer telephone calls.  One benefit of monitoring performance data is to enable the FSR to identify the specific parts in question and assure that needed parts are available at the time of the service visit, thereby resulting in quicker repair and improved uptime for the lab.

“SNCS utilizes secure connectivity and the speed of the Internet to routinely monitor Sysmex instrument performance.  As such, SNCS communications at the device, enterprise, and network levels utilize best practices in healthcare information security so that Sysmex can assist healthcare providers in complying with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA] requirements.  We are committed to working within these patient confidentiality boundaries and have built SNCS upon a highly secure platform rather than the patch security employed by other commonly used communication methods,” said Kershaw. 

Sysmex hematology analyzers have been ranked the best in the industry for system performance and reliability for eight consecutive years, according to the annual IMV ServiceTrak™ customer satisfaction survey. Survey respondents included department supervisors, lab managers, technologists and senior technologists chosen at random from hospitals of varying size from across the country.

About Hagerstown Medical Laboratory
Hagerstown Medical Laboratory (HML) is a full-service clinical laboratory committed to quality, convenience, and reliability. HML serves the four-state area of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia.  HML is led by four board-certified pathologists who provide medical and technical support and who are available for consultation.  The technical staff is comprised of 60 medical technologists and medical laboratory technicians. Phlebotomy services are performed by 40 phlebotomists, many of whom also are trained as breath alcohol technicians.  HML is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and adheres to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) requirements and the requirements of the State of Maryland.  HML is enrolled in the CAP proficiency testing program, the CAP Tech Sample Program, and participates in the American Society of Clinical Pathologists Check Sample Program; a quality control program specifically tailored to the scope of testing is maintained by each section of the
laboratory.

About Sysmex America, Inc.
Sysmex America, Inc., the U.S. headquarters of Sysmex Corporation (Kobe, Japan), is a world leader in clinical laboratory systemization and solutions, including clinical diagnostics, automation, and information systems.  Serving customers for over 35 years, Sysmex focuses on extending the boundaries of diagnostic science while providing the management information tools that make a real difference in clinical and operational results for people worldwide.  For more information about Sysmex, please visit www.sysmex.com/usa.