ACT Testing Platform Switch

Following! I'm looking to do the exact same thing for both HR and LR and I know it will be a giant project!

Good morning Cat.  We switched from using the Hemochron 801 to the i-STAT back in 2003.  We were a beta-site for ABBOTT when they were developing the ACT cartridge.  We compared the Hemochron 801 to the Hemochron Signature, Hemochron Response and the i-STAT ACT -Celite and ACT-Kaolin cartridge is all of our areas that performed ACTs (CV OR, pedi CVOR, OR, Cath Lab, Electrophysiology and Interventional Radiology.  It took the better part of the year to do the correlation.  I would be happy to talk to you off line about the specifics and how we use the i-STAT ACT (non-warm vs. pre-warm modes) as a result of the study. The Cath Lab workflow was enhanced as a result of the switch, as in addition to the ACTs they were also able to perform creatinines and INRs on the i-STAT instead of waiting for the results to come back to the lab.  They also added blood gases to their menu for patients that went into respiratory distress.  It's great to have one platform that performs many tests.  Please contact me at 860 972-3492 if you would like to discuss the specifics of the ACT correlation.

Hey Cat,
I have had the pleasure (not) of trying to interface the Hemochron Sig Elite.  Everyone is presently using an old model and the sales rep said they would be coming out with a newer model, he hoped this year.  I would recommend at least waiting for the newer model.
We use the EPOC for all of our other tests.  One card (cartridge) has blood gases, Chem 8, Lactic Acid, and H&H, so that covers anything else they may need. 
If they do not improve the Hemochrons, we may look at going back to the i-Stat.  However, it would be struggle with Admin and I doubt it would happen.

Hello Cat,
  We switched from Medtronic ACT Plus to the istat ACTk about two years ago in the Cath Lab (the CVOR stayed on the Medtronic HMS platform to have the Heparin Assay). The switch was fairly easy, Abbott sent a rep to help with the implementation and training. We ended up not changing the therapeutic range or sheath pull range because the difference was not significant. The istat has many pros; just being interfaced is huge, new employees have to be put into RALS before they can test on patients, results and charges are automatic, etc. The istat is more consistent with results and less technique dependent. The staff is very happy with the istat platform, and as above the istat is very versatile (which is good and bad because they will want it all). The only drawback is a linearity has to be done every 6 months on the istat; we do that at the same time that we do the HEPline kit on the HMS. Biggest headache was getting the IT part done. Hope this helps, Kerri

Hey All,
I stand corrected.  The new Hemochron is out!  

We switched a few years back from the Medtronic ACT to the iSTAT.  We did several studies with the assistance of Abbott and lots of education with our providers.  The Medtronic was too cumbersome with loading the blood into the cuvettes, most times the results from each side of the cuvette were not matching.  We have better, consistent results with the iSTAT.  If you would like further details on our process/timeline, please email me!