The My+® mobile sampling application is well-known and has been proven effective in most Finnish hospitals. The first version of the mobile app is in use in all Finnish university hospitals, and some have already switched to the newer version, which has even more features to make everyday life easier.
Complementing the desktop app, the My+ mobile sampling application adds agility and flexibility to your work.
For samplers, the app offers several benefits, such as:
- Saving time on preparation, as labels can be printed at the patient’s side during sampling
- Ensuring accurate sample timestamps with no delay between sampling and label printing
- Reducing the need to move from one place to the other in the hospital to print
- Facilitating remote communication with other samplers through the app
- Allowing real-time monitoring of sampling and fast response to new orders – no time is wasted on receiving requests over the phone
The mobile application streamlines the sampling process, making it more straightforward and effortless for the laboratory nurses. The app’s real-time information flow shortens laboratory test turnaround times, facilitating smoother patient care.
Anniina Kokkonen, the sampling coordinator, and Simo Turunen, the laboratory nurse in charge of mobile sampling, report that the app has significantly eased daily tasks.
ISLAB: The My+® mobile sampling application has boosted community spirit
ISLAB Laboratories have been using the My+ sampling application for years. In 2024, ISLAB’s Kuopio office introduced the latest functionality of the My+ mobile app. Anniina Kokkonen, the sampling coordinator, and Simo Turunen, the laboratory nurse in charge of mobile sampling, report that the app has significantly eased daily tasks.
The main positive impact has been an increase in the sense of community – a sense of working together, which brings meaning to the work. The duration of sampling rounds used to vary a lot from one employee to another, but thanks to the My+ mobile app, samplers can now see how the round is progressing, even for colleagues. They can communicate with each other and help each other, says Kokkonen
Especially for new employees, this makes the tour more enjoyable, as they can ask for help from others in case of problems. The up-to-date nature of the mobile app also makes it possible to let the departments know where the sampler is going, if necessary, Turunen continues.
Kokkonen and Turunen also mention the flexibility and work efficiency brought by mobile activities:
Laboratory nurses don’t have to return to the lab to relay information, but can make arrangements on the fly. This saves steps and unnecessary intermediate steps. There is no need for separate printing and recording before or after the rotation, and everything is done in parallel with the sampling. Work organisation and patient list organisation are also streamlined when patients’ specific details are visible in the application.
It has been easy for our staff to learn how to use the My+ mobile app and no one has said that they want to go back to the old way, Turunen adds.
According to Turunen, patients have also responded positively to the mobile app:
They have not questioned its use in any way. The app makes it easier for us to answer the patient’s questions – for example, what tests have been requested.
A new function for patient identification by barcode
Errors in patient identification cause problems in many healthcare facilities, compromising patient safety on a weekly basis. Patient identification errors are often caused by human error: rush, interruption or disruption, but with the right technological solutions, at least some of them can be prevented.
Studies have shown that barcode reading reduces errors in patient identification. They have also found that the introduction of electronic examination requests and patient identification bracelets, reading them electronically and printing labels next to the patient significantly reduces the proportion of incorrectly labelled specimens. (Source: Hotus-hoitosuositus)
Based on these principles and the wishes of our customers, we developed a new identification function for the My+ mobile app, which can be used for rotational and emergency sampling in hospitals.
With the renewal, patients can now be identified safely and quickly in the My+ mobile sampling app using a barcode on the hospital’s patient wristband. Samplers can scan the barcode on the patient’s wristband to quickly and reliably verify the patient’s details.The aim is to reduce patient misidentification during sampling while facilitating the sampling process.
New identification method
- improve the efficiency of the sampling process
- reduce the chance of errors
- increases patient safety at all stages of sampling
When using barcode authentication, the application verifies that the patient’s information matches the information on the application screen. If they do not match, the application will clearly indicate this. In addition to verbal identification, this is an easy and reliable way to identify a patient.
The mobile app streamlines the sampling process, making it more straightforward and effortless for samplers. The app’s real-time information flow shortens laboratory test turnaround times, facilitating smoother patient care.