[Histonet] barcode labels vs handwritten

[Jesus Ellin]

I understand the issues that you are going through at this time and how to go forward with this project,, I feel that barcoding is going to open new doors within the Histology field,, we will be able to fill the gaps and begin to enter a new area of process workflows and techniques within our departments and facilities,, The hardest thing is to choose the correct project or gradient for success,, We here at Yuma Regional went through several phases of barcoding, with applying lean concepts,, we came to discover alot of pros and cons on both sides of the coin,, but very little cons,, We started out using single "D" barcoding with paper labels as you all,, but noticed several issues with them,, 1. To make sure that you purchase quality lables and #2 That they can withstand the staining process,, but finding a vendor for labels was not difficult, and intially the labels staying on there was not a problem,, but over time when either there needs to be re slipping of the slide or slides stuck together within a drawer,, we found that no label no matter how much we were assured by the vendor they ended up failing,, there are also issue with coverslipping, at times the labels cause the cover slip to not sit right on the slide or if we labeled them after the staining process we were spending additional time,, so we ended up going to a slide writer that has reduced alot of time wasted on slide issue, it improved quality and it is dependable,, we also changedc to 2D barcodes will allow for additional programming for future project builds..  I would say that we as a field need to embrace this technology sooner than later and also look to the future at what this technology can bring,, if any one has any questions feel free email or call me.


Jesus Ellin  HT/PA  ASCP
Yuma Regional Medical Center
Department of Pathology
928-336-1144 or 928-336-7444
jellin <@t> yumaregional.org 



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