| ■ VD instrumentation manufacturers must always I seek a delicate balance between the performance I available from components and the overliead they I add in terms of cost, size, and power. The challenge HI is constant because component technology changes quickly. Equipment components or features that now seem superfluous can quickly become practical and valuable as technology and user needs evolve. Today, manufacturers can take advantage of recent advances by building in tcatures that help verify and manage the data that the diagnostic equipment creates. IVD instruments are ultimately only as good as the input they receive. This makes integrated bar code readers very valuable components. Automating data entry with bar coding improves data quality and patient safety-while also helping users be more productive. Recent advances in bar code technology arc allowing the performance and productivity- of existing IVD applications to be improved and enabling efficient new processes to be developed. Features such as enhanced two-dimensional (2-D) bar code support, more flexible read ranges, improved tolerance for poor symbol quality, and integrated vision and inspection capabilities give reason for diagnostic equipment developers to take a fresh look at how automated bar code entry could enhance their instruments to provide greater value to customers. Improving Safety and Efficiency Two ol the biggest issues laboratory and healthcare administrators face today are how to maintain adequate staffing levels and how to improve patient safety. Diagnostic equipment can help on both fronts. Laboratory workers can spend more than half their time doing repetitive prcanalvtical tasks and another significant portion recording and validating results. Equipment manufacturers can promote lab productivity by building in features that reduce the time required to configure equipment, identify samples, and record results. Labs already rely heavily on laboratory information management systems (I.1MS) to maintain productivity. Diagnostic equipment that sup- 76 IVD TECHNOLOGY | OCTOBER 2007 |