Radiometer launches new app to help avoid laboratory errors

Radiometer has launched a new smartphone app aimed at minimising errors in blood gas analysis procedures.

The Avoid Errors app incorporates a handbook describing how to avoid common pre-analytical mistakes, a guide for troubleshooting errors and an interactive skill test.

According to the manufacturer, this app helps to address growing demands for e-learning and process optimisation among healthcare providers, while meeting the needs of healthcare professionals struggling with mounting workloads.

The app is now available for iOS devices via Apple's App Store, with versions of the software also being released for Android and Windows Phone devices by the end of the month.

Dr Ana-Maria Simundic, assistant professor, clinical chemistry specialist and president of the Croatian Society for Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, said: "The best way to ensure patient safety … is to understand the challenges of preanalytical variables to proactively reduce some of the evitable errors by doing the blood gas testing correctly the first time."

This week, the company also announced that it has become a member of The World's Best News, a public health campaign formed by the UN, Danida and more than 70 Danish aid organisations.