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Better Connectivity=Greater Productivity

How a connected water purification system can address the critical needs of the clinical laboratory

MilliporeSigma
Published:Dec 01, 2018
|3 min read
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Though often overlooked, water is the most common fluidic reagent in the clinical lab. Water purity is therefore a crucial factor in the success and accuracy of many diagnostics. But a water purification system that provides a lab with the required volume of water at the right level of purity is just the start—what a clinical lab really needs is a system that will perform those basic functions while also addressing the most critical needs of the clinical lab: productivity, cost savings, and accountability.

NEEDS OF THE CLINICAL LAB

Clinical labs are always striving to maximize productivity. Between sample preparation, analysis, training, certification, instrument maintenance, documentation, and quality monitoring, it can be a challenge for a clinical lab to get through all of the tasks at hand in the run of a day, week, or month. For a lab to achieve the highest productivity, instruments must work without interruption, high-quality service must be available, and time spent by laboratory staff on maintenance and management of the system must be kept to a minimum.

Most clinical labs are also strapped for funding. That, combined with recent cuts to reimbursement for certain patient tests, means profit margins are shrinking. Clinical labs are therefore fixated on getting their costs per test as low as possible. That effort includes minimizing the costs associated with the water purification systems that are feeding the analyzers in the lab, while also ensuring that the costs remain consistent and predictable.

With the Milli-Q CLX 7000 series of connected water purification systems, users can connect to peace of mind.

It is crucial that clinical labs keep detailed records. Labs seeking either accreditation or re-accreditation to ISO 15189:2012—a standard used by the labs in developing quality management systems and by customers and regulatory authorities in assessing competence—must constantly and accurately document the quality of water feeding their analyzers, as well as any water-related daily operations. Manual record-keeping is time-consuming and prone to error.

ANSWERING THE NEEDS: CONNECTED WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEMS

Among clinical labs, productivity, cost savings, and accountability are universal needs. They must be taken into consideration when it comes time to selecting a new instrument, especially one as critical as a water purification system. With respect to those needs, the Milli-Q® CLX 7000 series of water purification systems, designed to feed high-throughput clinical analyzers, are the ideal solution for the clinical lab.

Productivity

Milli-Q® Connect is an online service that gives customers 24/7 real-time monitoring of all system parameters as well as remote-control access in case of an issue. Customers can set their preferences to receive notifications of alarms and alerts. This enables them to promptly and remotely manage their systems, resulting in less downtime. Milli-Q® Connect also provides the Milli-Q® Services remote assistance team a view of all system parameters, making remote diagnostics and even remote repairs possible.

The Milli-Q® CLX 7000 system's user-friendly interface is intuitive to operate, saving the user valuable time. Key information, such as the need to replace consumables and step-by-step maintenance instructions, are readily available on the system’s dashboard. Maintenance is also minimized by built-in UV lamps, which prevent bacterial growth and reduce the frequency with which the system needs to be sanitized.

Cost Savings

The Milli-Q® CLX 7000 series systems have low and predictable running costs, thanks to two patented technologies. The Elix® electrodeionization technology (EDI; continuous regeneration of resin by an electrical field) produces high-quality water without the need for resin exchange, resulting in a lower and predictable running cost. The Evolution Reject Adjustment (E.R.A.™) technology automatically optimizes water recovery to reduce water consumption by up to 50 percent, which in turn leads to lower water expenses and less waste.

Accountability

Milli-Q® Connect offers powerful data management. Records of water quality and maintenance are automatically archived, eliminating the need to record those data by hand. Data management features facilitate compliance with rigorous regulatory requirements, helping clinical labs gain and maintain accreditation. In the portal, users can view and download easy-to-read reports, which prove to an auditor that water quality is what it should be and that system maintenance has been performed on time by qualified technicians, thus reducing stress during an audit.

A connected water purification system is the ideal solution to the critical needs of the clinical lab. With the Milli-Q® CLX 7000 series of connected water purification systems, users can connect to peace of mind.

This InFocus feature was crafted by Clinical Lab Manager’s Creative Services team and sponsored by MilliporeSigma.