MediaMan369

Thanks for the info, Terri. I hate to ask so many questions, but our hospital is currently looking at a new HIS, with a possibility of a new LIS. Are you switching to Epic HIS and LIS? Why the switch from Cerner? What are some positives from Epic that Cerner did not meet? What are some positives from Cerner that Epic does not meet? Are you using Epic's AP module? What size is your facility? Thank you again for your assistance.

What LIS and HIS systems are you currently on? Can you tell me about the transition from the current system to EPIC? Any problems or suggestions? What are your thoughts on SoftBank? Thank you.

Our policy is that if a patient has an ABO other than Group O and no history, we obtain a sample from a different collection, i.e., previous CBC sample that was collected at a time different than the BXM sample or new draw. We can process both samples on the Tango.

We have processing our donor units on the Tango for antigen typings since they were approved last fall. It has been GREAT!! Imagine doing 12 units, complete Rh and Kell phenotype in approximately 28 minutes with NO tubes to label. It is wonderful. We now routinely phenotype 36 to 40 units about every other week to have units available, comes in real handy when looking for c (little c) negative units.

To satisfy the statement, "A negative control should be performed on samples testing positive with Anti-A, Anti-B and Anti-D", we simply run a tube containing albumin as negative control for all AB Positive patients. Actually, we were doing this same control tube with our previous vendor, who did not state the need to process the extra control. I guess we are trying to weed out any patients with non-specific agglutination (cold). This has not been a big hassle since we process 95% of our workload on the Tango.

Cornelia, Please send me your comparison data. Thanks, mediaman369@aol.com

Actually, our C/T ratio is about 1.25, which is not bad for a hospital with no transfusion committee.

We are currently a 380-bed level 2 trauma center. We do approximately 800 crossmatches per month and process approximately 800 RBC units per month. We are bidirectional with Sunquest.

We have been using the Biotest Tango|optimo for almost one year and it has been the best year ever for blood bank. We evaluated the Ortho ProVue, Immucor Galileo Echo and Biotest Tango. We have had great results with sample quantity, result quality, department productivity/efficiency as well as a reduction in costs. We also switched over to the Biotest liquid reagent antisera and reagent red cells in the fall of 2008 and have not had any issues. The Tango does an excellent job with Rh-Kell phenotypes and I can't wait to get other phenotypes on the Tango.

We use tube for back-up for tube and ortho panel/gel or tube (biotest cells or medion cells) with enhancement from biotest (MLB2) or PEG. We have found that the biotest panel cells with the MLB2 have been very comparable with results received from the Tango.

We have been using the TANGO for almost 9 months. We were able to demo all three analyzers: ProVue, ECHO and TANGO. After purchasing the TANGO, we were complete with all the validations and went live in 45 days after installation. The TANGO has been GREAT!!! We have had very minimal downtime. Biotest has been great as far as customer service. We also switched out to use Biotest liquid ABO reagent and antisera.

We have been using the Biotest reagent for approximately 4 months. We have not had any issues. We are currently using Biotest for ABO, Rh, Reverse Cells, Screening Cells, Modified LISS, AHG, Coombs Cells, and their available antisera. All have compared well with our previous reagent vendors. And the tube results correlate well with the TANGO results.

Is anyone using Soft Computer/SoftBank as an LIS? We are currently using Sunquest and it has it's own issues. We had a demo of Soft and most of the applications appear to be a GREAT improvement over our current system.

We have a TANGO. The interface is not completed as of yet, and not sure of the HCLL. I have heard of a software issue with processing more than 4 samples. We have had the TANGO since May 2008 and it works fantastic. We have had one major problem, saline leaked from a fitting and shorted out a module PCB. We had next day service and have been doing the TANGO since. The couple of times we called Tech Support, they have been great. The TANGO is truely walk-away as well as readily available to add new samples at any time during processing without interrupting a run. We are currently processing approximately 70 - 80% of our daily samples (ABO, RH, Screens) and all of our donor confirmations (average 40/day) on the TANGO. It has really made a difference in our laboratory. For example, a couple of weeks ago, we had 3 Techs working. We processed 25 samples, 45 unit confirmations, signed out 28 units of RBCs, allocated and issued 14 platelets (10 of which had to be irradiated), thawed and issued 12 plasmas and answered the phone. All in 4 hours. All techs went to break and lunch. We routinely evaluate our decision to purchase the TANGO versus the other analyzers that are available, and everytime, we know that we made the right decision.

The TAT on the TANGO for a single antibody screen in approximately 30 minutes. The TAT for a Type and Screen is approximately 30 minutes. Based on the centrifuge, the TANGO can process 10 antibody screens in 40 to 45 minutes. During the validation, I loaded 35 samples for ABO, Rh and antibody screen and the results were complete in 3 hours.

We have been gel users for approximately 7 years (types by tube) and we just purchased a TANGO. Although the methodology is different for antibody screens, we absolutely love it. We evaluated the Provue, Echo and Tango. We have been online for about 3 months with no issues. It has really improved overall efficiency and reagent costs are down.

We are having a great time with the TANGO. We have been using it for about 3 months and everything is working GREAT!!!!! We also evaluated the ProVue and Echo. Would recommend everyone looking at this.

We have had our TANGO for approximately 2 months and are having a BLAST.

Post removed by site admin at the request of Immucor

Post removed by site admin at the request of Immucor