[Histonet] CoPath Plus IHC orders

[Vickroy, Jim]

We are in the process of exploring the interface that Cerner has for sending information from CoPath Plus (ABT) to our Ventana Special stainer and Benchmark Ultras.   I am told that large users have found the interface to be a time-saving tool.  I would be interested in hearing from someone that has the interface between CoPath Plus and the Ventana Instruments to find out how well it actually works.   We have had CoPath plus for several years and have problems when our pathologists order special stains, recuts, and IHC stains.  We finally got it to work (without losing ordered cases) by running a log on the hour every hour.  I believe the log is called Stain/Process Log Verify/Print.   The problems we encounter with this log is that:


1.        It only prints on the hour.   (We tried setting it up for a shorter time but experienced duplicates and other problems.)  So if our pathologist orders a stain it may be 59 minutes before we get the order in the lab.

2.       Sometimes if the pathologist orders a stain close to the printing time a case would end up not showing up on the log.

3.       If we tried to run additional logs it sometimes affected if a case was on the printed log.

As you can see if the order interface would transfer the information to the Ventana computers we would first cut down on clerical time and mistakes.  We would also be able to get the orders in a more efficient time instead of waiting for an hourly log to print.  We have been hesitant to play with the current system since we have had occasions when the cases get left of logs.   We have also experimented with other logs built in Copath but have not come up with a viable fix.  Frankly CoPath has been less than helpful.

My worry is that if we purchase the interfaces then we will have similar problems and perhaps additional problems.   Would anyone be willing to share their experiences with these systems and any suggestions they would have to approach the interface or the problems with the logs?

Thank you

Jim Vickroy


James Vickroy BS, HT(ASCP)

Surgical  and Autopsy Pathology Technical Supervisor
Memorial Medical Center
217-788-4046


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