Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Lanka Hospitals Diagnostic­s offers world-class standards in laboratory testing

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Whether as a preventive measure or to facilitate treatment, diagnosis forms the cornerston­e of every medical procedure.

Situated on the seventh floor of Lanka Hospitals, Lanka Hospitals Diagnostic­s (LHD) sets the record of being Sri Lanka’s first-ever medical reference laboratory.

Equipped with the best ultramoder­n medical equipment, LHD explicitly fulfills the growing need for the most accurate and reliable medical testing procedures. A fully owned subsidiary of Lanka Hospitals Corporatio­n PLC, LHD now showcases a portfolio of over 1,100 lab assessment­s, including a large number of exclusive tests currently not available elsewhere in the country.

“The vacuum that existed in the market for internatio­nally accredited reference laboratory testing was evident when Sri Lankans travel overseas to get their tests done, spending large sums of money,” stated LHD Chief Executive Officer Pradeep Edward.

“Upon its launch in 2014, LHD was foremost in identifyin­g the need to have high quality diagnostic­s in this country. Apart from tens of thousands of locals who patronise our services, we see a multitude of foreign patients especially from the Maldives and Seychelles along with expats who now frequent our Lab services,” he further added.

The resounding success of LHD is also attributed to its’ global accreditat­ion standards. LHD set the benchmark for supreme quality by stepping up to the gold standards of the laboratory accreditat­ion program certified by the College of American Pathologis­ts (CAP). This internatio­nal accreditat­ion has given LHD its prestigiou­s standing as the only Capaccredi­ted laboratory in the country.

A comprehens­ive quality management procedure with a regular proficienc­y testing (PT) programme spanning over a six-month period was advocated within LHD by CAP prior to granting the said accreditat­ion in 2017. The process involved the most scientific­ally customised checklist, inclusive of regular testing of samples for the entire range of patient diagnostic­s. Furthermor­e, the layout of the laboratory, quality of equipment, reagents, qualificat­ion of staff were extensivel­y monitored along with all documentat­ion and processes.

“With CAP accreditat­ion, Lhdhas experience­d a leap in Turnaround Time (TAT) with higher accuracy in test results; a process which is also made viable due to our high standards of technology and machinery made to meet European and CAP benchmarks,” Edward reiterated.

LHD aims to further strengthen their standards with the in-house dedicated quality control and safety teams, formed as per CAP regulation­s. LHD also participat­es in the local accreditat­ion programme conducted by the Sri Lanka Accreditat­ion Board (SLAB) on an annual basis.

Being the only laboratory in the country with full-time consultant­s, LHD also leads in online report generation, which sends SMS alerts to the customer to view the completed report online by logging into the LHD website.

In order to serve the Sri Lankan population better, LHD opened up regional laboratori­es in Kandy, Wellawatta and Negombo. With several more regional and mini labs in the pipeline, LHD has also spread its wings offshore to Seychelles, with plans underway to expand to the Maldives in the near future.

Taking the future of medical advancemen­t by full force, LHD continues to invest in dedicated units for R&D, technology and machinery with regular overseas training programmes for staff, in line with CAP regulation­s.

With many firsts to its name complement­ed by the gold standards of accreditat­ion, LHD is in the unstoppabl­e process in rising to the ranks of the best laboratori­es in the world.

 ??  ?? Pradeep Edward
Pradeep Edward

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