The demands on clinical staff are higher than ever. Patients expect timely results, administrators expect compliance, and clinicians rely on accurate data to make life-impacting decisions. Yet for many hospitals, one critical process remains vulnerable to error: manual specimen collection.
From handwritten labels, to inconsistent documentation and missed collections, relying on outdated or manual workflows introduces risks, delays, and inefficiencies when caring for patients. For nurses, it can mean spending time finding labels and lead to specimen rejections. For lab teams, it can mean redraws.
The reality is, manual specimen collection is no longer sustainable in environments where precision and speed are non-negotiable. Healthcare teams need reliable tools that support accurate, real-time, bedside collection which reduces the burden on staff while improving patient safety.
Here are four reasons why investing in a mobile specimen collection solution is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.
1. Faster Turnaround Times
For nurses, time is everything. With a mobile specimen collection tool, specimens are collected and labeled right at the bedside, using mobile barcode scanning for instant verification and documentation. This means less time spent walking back and forth to the nurses’ station to find labels, and more time with patients. Specimens arrive to the lab more quickly and are already correctly labeled and logged, reducing delays and allowing for faster test processing.
The bottom line being faster lab results mean faster clinical decisions and better patient outcomes.
2. Fewer Mislabeled Specimens
Mislabeled or misidentified specimens can lead to an array of safety events. Beyond slow turnaround times as mentioned above, they can lead to misdiagnoses or even a potential sentinel event. With mobile specimen collection tools, caregivers scan the patient’s wristband and the specimen container, ensuring positive patient and specimen identification every time. This not only provides peace of mind, helps prevent the potential lawsuits, fines, and loss of reputation of the hospital that can come with misdiagnoses errors.
When lives and reputations are on the line, mobile specimen collection tools deliver certainty.
3. Less Redraws
Unnecessary venipunctures are frustrating for everyone. They’re uncomfortable for patients and lead to patient dissatisfaction. They are time-consuming and a waste of caregiver resources; as well as morale-draining.
Mobile specimen collection tools help prevent duplicate collections by providing Stat alerts, showing what’s been drawn, and what still needs to be collected. Staff can have the information they need immediately to evaluate if previous specimens can be used and what can be drawn together.
Better visibility = fewer unnecessary sticks = better patient experience and more efficient use of time.
4. Stronger Documentation
Accurate documentation matters. Mobile specimen collection tools capture every step in the specimen collection process automatically. From patient and specimen ID to label creation, this data can help monitor productivity and support workflow process improvement. Also, collection date/time and collector data is sent directly to your hospital’s electronic record. For lab and IT teams, this improves traceability and simplifies compliance audits. It also reduces manual charting for nurses, giving them more time for direct care.
From compliance to care quality, great documentation drives it all.
Ready to Strengthen Your Specimen Collection Process?
When nursing, lab, and IT teams are aligned with the right tools, everyone benefits, especially the patient. MobiLab® by iatricSystems is more than just a barcode scanning solution; it’s a practical way to improve workflow, reduce errors, and support better care at every level.
If you’re looking for a way to improve specimen collection in your hospital, it’s time to take a closer look at what MobiLab can do.