New Phlebotomy carts for Erasmus MC

The old phlebotomy carts at Erasmus MC began to show various malfunctions. Dead batteries, laptops shutting down, drawers refusing to open. The phlebotomy coordinators of the Clinical Chemistry department at Erasmus MC were flooded with complaints. Eventually, they engaged in discussions with Alphatron Medical. An intensive period of development and testing of a new phlebotomy cart commenced. The result is impressive: an AMIS phlebotomy cart developed to meet the needs and requirements of Erasmus MC, exceeding all expectations.

“The term ‘cart’ is almost a bit too cheap for what we have here now. This is a big change compared to what we had: a bare cart with a laptop on top, a handheld scanner, a printer, and a unit containing blood tubes, syringes, and needles for blood collection. We worked with these carts for years. But in the end, they were literally written off, completely worn out. The laptops were outdated, with too small screens, and the carts started to show malfunctions. The batteries simply wouldn’t charge properly anymore. There were multiple IT malfunctions daily, printers stopped working, and handheld scanners refused to cooperate. We really needed something new. We could have solved the battery problem by providing the laptops with new batteries, but the laptop still wouldn’t meet our needs. Additionally, our Infection Prevention Unit told me that the carts no longer met the infection prevention guidelines and would therefore be rejected. Replacement was urgently needed.

Introduction to AMiS
In the search for a successor to the old phlebotomy carts, René Hengst (consultant at the IT department) didn’t rush into anything. He visited several hospitals. Eventually, he ended up at the Rotterdam-based Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland, where he first saw an AMiS from Alphatron. “They were positive about the AMiS there, and I contacted Alphatron. We then told them our wishes and requirements for the new phlebotomy cart. This ranged from robustness and specific IT requirements to ergonomics (adjustable height!) and a nice design; after all, appearance matters too. Alphatron Medical introduced the idea of AMiS as a phlebotomy cart. We decided to develop a pilot cart: a phlebotomy cart based on our wishes,” says the IT consultant.

Customization
This was followed by a development and testing process. In this process, Alphatron developed various specific features tailored to the wishes of Erasmus MC. This includes, for example, the position of the trash can and the placement and attachment of the hand sanitizer pump. Another example is the specially designed holder for the label printer, to keep it in place.

Also, at our request, Alphatron developed a glove holder. We wanted to have the most compact glove rack possible at the back of the AMiS, containing three different sizes of gloves. The result is impressive. And our Infection Prevention Unit thought so too. The phlebotomy cart fully complied with the infection prevention guidelines; infection prevention is therefore guaranteed.”