We recently looked at Blood Bank automation and I had settled on purchasing the Immucor ECHO due to a variety of reasons.  Once I put in my capital equipment request it was denied by the IT director because it was running on Windows XP and not Windows 7.  Other then the Ortho Vision is there any other instruments running Windows 7 instead of XP?  I recently heard it could be awhile until the new Immucor ECHO Lumena is through FDA approval.  That is running a Windows 7 operating system.

Thanks!!!

All the Bio-Rad equipment are running with Windows 7 - Tango Infinity and IH1000. I'm not sure about any others. 

I'm not sure what IT has to do with it. They usually balk at versions for PCs that are used for normal PC use. That's because they are required to support those PCs when there are issues. Since the ECHO PC is only used to interface with the ECHO and the IT is not who has to provide technical support for the PC they shouldn't even be involved other than providing access for an interface and to an internet connection for the cisco box. Any problems with the ECHO PC will be handled by Immucor, not IT.

I think they've overstepped their bounds on PC requirements.

 

Grifols wadiana and Erytra use windows 7. 

I agree with jalomahe, why in the heck does your IT department care about a PC that is attached to an analyzer?  I'm sure it is the fact that they don't understand it is part of the analyzer and will only transmit info to the LIS. And they may consider this part of the hospital network.

It might be a tough sell to get IT to let you purchase this analyzer, network security, viruses, firewalls all that technical stuff is front and center in their minds, they are most likely technical and not clinical.

What about other analyzers in your lab, what platform do they run on?  Of course IT would probably say these were grandfathered in if they are not on Windows 7 and they are OK.

You gotta wonder what Immucor is thinking since the Griffols, BioRad and Ortho analyzers are on W7.  

Sorry to hear this, it is always something isn't it????

The IT department is not worried about the PC support.  They are refusing to interface it and plug it into the network because of the Windows XP.  All our other instruments in the lab are currently grandfathered in.  The new Immucor ECHO version Lumena will be Windows 7 but it is waiting for FDA approval.  We may be looking at purchasing something else if the FDA approval takes too long.

1 hour ago, mld123 said:

The IT department is not worried about the PC support.  They are refusing to interface it and plug it into the network because of the Windows XP.  All our other instruments in the lab are currently grandfathered in.  The new Immucor ECHO version Lumena will be Windows 7 but it is waiting for FDA approval.  We may be looking at purchasing something else if the FDA approval takes too long.

The IT department should not be able to NIX instrumentation selection for the lab. If the ECHO is the best fit for your lab then that's what you should go with. I suggest having Immucor Sales Rep get the Immucor IT folks to talk to the hospital IT folks so they can speak the same language and understand what the issues and whether or not they can deal with it until the new W7 version is available.