At this point in time, it cannot be denied, either by policymakers or hospital administrators, that that COVID-19 outbreak has placed a formidable strain on a health care sector already close to a chasm. Although neither using a crystal ball we will be able to predict if, nor when and how, this unprecedented pandemic will terminate, some lessons must be learned. The local response of laboratory medicine services to the COVID-19 outbreak has been always efficient all around the world, despite the many and reiterated cuts. All professional figures working in clinical laboratories staff shall hence be gloried and prized for providing such an efficient support. Nonetheless, ordinary working with minimally sufficient resources has obligated to urgent recruitment of personnel, often with rapid selections, as well as to the need of purchasing additional instrumentation to meet the increased volume of testing, especially in certain areas of the laboratory such as molecular biology and serology. Shortage of some reagents, due to impossibility to stockpile (for limiting contingent hospital costs) or inability of supply importers to fulfill the demand, has further amplified the vulnerability of this sector. Last but not least, the incessant consolidation of small laboratories into larger facilities has contributed to amplify the diagnostic delay, and hence derange the clinical decision making in many worldwide areas.

Laboratory medicine resilience during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Lippi, Giuseppe
;
2020-01-01

Abstract

At this point in time, it cannot be denied, either by policymakers or hospital administrators, that that COVID-19 outbreak has placed a formidable strain on a health care sector already close to a chasm. Although neither using a crystal ball we will be able to predict if, nor when and how, this unprecedented pandemic will terminate, some lessons must be learned. The local response of laboratory medicine services to the COVID-19 outbreak has been always efficient all around the world, despite the many and reiterated cuts. All professional figures working in clinical laboratories staff shall hence be gloried and prized for providing such an efficient support. Nonetheless, ordinary working with minimally sufficient resources has obligated to urgent recruitment of personnel, often with rapid selections, as well as to the need of purchasing additional instrumentation to meet the increased volume of testing, especially in certain areas of the laboratory such as molecular biology and serology. Shortage of some reagents, due to impossibility to stockpile (for limiting contingent hospital costs) or inability of supply importers to fulfill the demand, has further amplified the vulnerability of this sector. Last but not least, the incessant consolidation of small laboratories into larger facilities has contributed to amplify the diagnostic delay, and hence derange the clinical decision making in many worldwide areas.
2020
Laboratory medicine, resilience, coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11562/1021619
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