ETON, UK – 14 December 2012 – InterSystems, a global leader in software for connected care, today announced that Beckman Coulter, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of clinical diagnostic equipment, is using InterSystems Ensemble® to improve the way samples are processed in hospital laboratories around the UK. Ensemble is a platform for the rapid integration and development of connectable applications.  The new Automated Sample Receipting (ASR) solution was developed in less than six months and enables an end-to-end pathology service that is significantly more streamlined than current manual processes.

Early in 2012, in the pursuit of the highest quality balanced with cost efficiency in laboratory services, Beckman Coulter decided to create functionality within one of its sample processing systems that would eliminate the manual booking of samples. Following a review of several options including using its own technology, Beckman Coulter chose Ensemble to integrate the target data management systems with hospital laboratory information systems and order communications systems. As a result, samples can now be automatically recorded rather than requiring staff to scan individual sample barcodes manually.

Leanne Annereau, Marketing Manager at Beckman Coulter, said, “We are delighted to have partnered with InterSystems. We have been impressed by their collaborative approach, and the speed at which Ensemble enabled us to complete our product development – in less than six months from concept to delivery. From the start, we felt InterSystems had the right product and experience to make the project a success. We are now looking at other ways we can work together.”

The ASR solution service provides a number of distinct benefits to hospitals and clinicians. By reducing labour-intensive steps within laboratory processes, Beckman Coulter estimate a single laboratory can now process about 3,000 tubes daily, which translates into significant time and cost savings over manual processes. In addition, the solution will improve the quality of results, since a significant proportion of pathology errors are related to the mishandling of samples or mismatching of patient information.

Jonathan Selby, Country Manager UK & Ireland at InterSystems, said, “We have built a strong partnership in a short time, and we are excited by the prospect of continuing our work supporting Beckman Coulter in their development of breakthrough solutions that simplify processes, improve accuracy, and reduce costs in biomedical testing.”

Beckman Coulter estimates that the first pilot sites will be operational before the end of the year.