Lab Collection Documentation Improved for HUP Phlebotomy Team

Phlebotomists at HUP handled a large, and continually growing volume of patients despite limited resources. An opportunity was seized to improve lab collection documentation to gain time efficiency for staff in processing online EHR documentation. Previously, it took at least a few minutes to sign on to the computer in each patient room and click multiple times to document each collection task. Also, if lab collection was not documented in a timely manner, the lab ordered time could have been pulled as a collected time, imposing safety risk.

To avert these issues, the phlebotomy team implemented an application to perform lab collection documentation at the patient’s bedside. Initial data indicated that the AM lab collection documentation improved significantly by about 26% within just a few months. “We feel that this application is the most efficient way to manage our draws within the Pavilion and HUP East” remarks Kara Eller, the manager of phlebotomy team. Now phlebotomy staff at all entities can more efficiently chart lab collection documentation as well as easily request lab label printing.

Using Mobile Applications for Inpatient Orders Helps Keep Physicians on the Go

Providers increasingly hoped to have a way to be able to place inpatient lab and medication orders using EHR integrated mobile apps and untether from stationary workstations, allowing them to improve clinical workflow and patient care. Members of our MForce mobile device program team and Information Services kept a close watch on the availability of an application version that would provide the desired functionality at Penn Medicine.

Once the application became available, the team conducted a pilot project to test the feature and assess its impact on clinical decision support. The results were positive, leading to a full roll out of the feature in June 2022. Since the initial launch, IS monitored the usage for mobile orders placed in hospital admissions and observed a steady increase in popularity. Initially starting with ~5200 orders placed in the 1st month, there were approximately 11,500 orders in the 3rd month of the project’s implementation. Over 25,000 inpatient mobile orders were placed within the first 6 months and volumes continue to grow!