Everybody has at some point been tested by getting their blood drawn. But have you ever wondered what process goes into this testing? And how does a field force management system enter this equation? Well, this article will take you through the entire operations included in the phlebotomy industry.
Before we get ijntot ways a phlebotomy businesses operates let us first understand what phlebotomy means. Also the different ways phlebotomy businesses can choose to work.
What is Phlebotomy?
So what does the phlebotomy industry refer to in the first place? If we were to exp;ain it in very simple terms, phlebotomy refers to the act of drawing blood from a person using a needle or injection. This practice is most commonly seen in laboratories where phlebotomists extract blood from their clients and then run tests on them.
This method is used to detect several diseases or deficiencies in the body. But with the rise in online services, phlebotomy has also taken on this service. This is how the trend of mobile phlebotomy came about. This industry is where the use of a field force management system comes about.
Mobile phlebotomy as an industry has laboratories that send out phlebotomists to their customers and the blood collection is done at their home. This means that the client does not have to waste time travelling to the lab just to provide samples and then once again to collect their reports. The entire process is digitalised and is time efficient.
How Does the Phlebotomy Field Force Management Work?
Let us got through a step by step procedure of how the mobile phlebotomy industry operates:
- Step 1: Customers book appointments with their laboratory. This process is done either via call or the internet. They can choose the kind of tests they want to avail and the time suitable for blood sample collection.
- Step 2: this request is reflected to the lab manager and it is their responsibility to send out a phlebotomist to their clients. They can send out either an employee from the office or somebody from the region close to the customer’s address.
- Step 3: When the employee reaches the task location, they collect the samples needed using correct methods and then leave the place, updating the manager of their completed task.
- Step 4: They then deliver the samples back to the lab for testing. That helps the lab create the medical reports of their clients. These reports are either delivered back to their customer physically or are sent to them via mail.
- Step 5: teh medical records are then registered for future reference in case the client comes back to get tested in the future.
This process is pretty simple isn’t it. But imagine being a laboratory manager having to deal with hundreds of clients everyday. This means they have the responsibility of taking and supervising almost hundreds of trips every day.This is where a good field force management software comes in. It allows managers to keep track of their employees even remotely. Let us see how in the following section.
Can TrackoField Help the Mobile Phlebotomy Industry?
Now the question remains, does the mobile phlebotomy industry even require a field force management system? The answer is very easy. Yes! It absolutely does. Why? Let us find out the features included in TrackoField and ways a phlebotomy business can benefit from it:
Live Tracking System
The Employee tracking platform allows managers to see the real time l;ocation of their employees. This means the lab assistants can see where their phlebotomists are at all times. They can assign tasks based on this information.
As we discussed above, for time efficiency, it is important that managers locate all the phlebotomists in the area around their clients and assign tasks to ones closest to the required location. This saves them travel time and cost as well. Thus, making the laboratory much more prompt with their service and earning a good reputation.
Task Management
So now that the task has been assigned based on the location of the phlebotomist, it’s time that managers ensure that their employees are executing their task efficiently. But manually running after and trying to contact each employee is not only tough, but can also be time wastfuel. This is why the field force management system includes the task management solutions.
These solutions not just help managers upload tasks for employees in bulk, but can also help them keep track of these task’s status. This helps them track the productivity level of their employees as well.
For employees, they do not have to constantly update every person in their hierarchy of their task status. Instead, they can just update the status on the app for every person’s viewing.
Expense Management
When an employee is out completing a task, some or the other expense is inevitable. This might include their fuel/travelling cost, food cost or purchasing of other task related resources. When we look at it from the perspective of a phlebotomy business, this cost might include extra syringes and other medical resources.
So how can they get reimbursed for these expenses? Under manual management, this process can take a large period of time as there are several people that need to give their approval for payment. But with the help of an expense management system, the delayed payment does not occur very often. This is because approval is done directly on the system instead of passing on step by step.
API Integration
In case of a phlebotomy laboratory, there are several APIs that the business can integrate with their system. With TrackoField’s compatibility to almost 1000+ APIs, managers do not have to oscillate between different systems for various tasks.
Medical reports are one such api that the system can include. This means that instead of manually keeping record of the medical history for any customer, the system will store data. Thus, it will prompt the phlebotomist of thor medical history every time the customer revisits the same laboratory. This can also work in case the customer has a complaint. Managers can mitigate the issue much more easily.
This process is called CRM where the system makes notes on customer activity and works around the data present in the software.
Conclusion
The mobile phlebotomy industry can be a tough one to manage and maintain in the absence of technology. This is why it is very important that businesses invest in a field force management system. Might we suggest that TrackoField is just the one you need? After all, we have mentioned all the ways the business can benefit from this system above.
TrackoBit with its robust solutions is one of the best field force management systems in the market. Why not test a demo and see how it transforms your business?
