Redefining clinical and operational excellence: Apollo DigiSmart Central Reference Laboratory’s (CRL) pioneering journey

Apollo Hospitals has set a new benchmark in diagnostics with its 45,000 sq. ft. Apollo DigiSmart CRL in Chennai, guided by the vision of ‘One Patient-One Touch-One Report.’

The lab is built on a digital first model with automation and Lean Six Sigma and enhances precision, quality, efficiency, and scalability in diagnostics.

Within a year of implementation, the facility has simplified manual processing steps by 78 per cent and improved the turnaround time (TAT) for core clinical lab by 47 per cent.

Visionary thinking: The foundation of transformation

The Apollo DigiSmart Lab is more than a facility, it’s a manifestation of a clear, progressive strategic design philosophy centred.

The Apollo DigiSmart CRL ushers in a new standard for diagnostics:

1. Multidisciplinary end to end automation: A radical departure from traditional fragmented processes, this approach embodies the promise of delivering a true ‘One Patient-One Report’ experience.
2. Seamless digital integration: By unifying AHLL (Apollo Health and Lifestyle Ltd) and AHEL (Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd) systems, the CRL ensures synchronisation across geographies and stakeholders.
3. Optimised workflow management: Every step of sample handling, from entry to reporting is optimised for agility and clinical precision.
4. Future-proof technology infrastructure: With a tenfold capacity growth in mind, redundancy and scalability are built into the lab’s DNA, ensuring it can evolve alongside technological and healthcare advancements.

 

 

A blueprint for scaled impact: The hub-and spoke configuration

Apollo Hospitals maximised the strategic advantage of its geographical footprint by adopting an innovative hub and-spoke ‘Cluster Consolidation’ approach, with the CRL at its centre.

Geographic and logistical advantages of the model:

●A 50-minute transit radius, connecting Apollo Hospitals’ diagnostics centres, and collection points within the bustling Chennai region.

●Centralised efficiency, allowing a transportation model while minimising pre-analytical variations due to delays.

●Predictable TAT: The model ensures strict adherence to the 90th percentile TAT standard in all disciplines by leveraging robotics and digital infrastructure to bridge distances and increase reliability.

By seamlessly merging geographic efficiencies with clinical precision, the Apollo DigiSmart CRL acts not just as an operational hub but as a nerve center for improving patient outcomes across the Chennai cluster.

The Apollo DigiSmart CRL’s robotic-enabled, digitally controlled infrastructure ensures agreed service levels for clinicians and patients are consistently met.

Pioneering technology as a catalyst

At the core of the Apollo DigiSmart CRL is an integrated, Roche Diagnostics powered Total Laboratory Automation (TLA) system, which transforms the diagnostic testing journey into a seamless, end-to-end automated lifecycle improving accuracy, reducing variability, and unlocking the full potential of clinical laboratories.

Highly integrated automated workflow

Key automation pillars include:

1. Bulk loading infrastructure: Automated sample identification and entry eliminate delays and manual errors.
2. High-throughput centrifugation: Dual-line workflows streamline biochemistry and hematology workflows, leading to faster processing.
3. Sample quality checks: Automation of HIL (Hemolysis, Icterus, and Lipemia) ensures samples meet clinical standards right from the start.
4. Biohazard-free decapping and aliquoting: Reduced risks for medical staff through complete automation.
5. High-capacity storage and retrieval: The lab can house an impressive 27,000 samples, enabling instant retrieval for re-runs or validations.

Digital intelligence-navify® Lab Operations (nLO) and navify ® Monitoring (nMon)

Coupled with Roche’s navify® Lab Operations (nLO) middle ware, the CRL acts as a nexus for connected lab analysis by integrating instruments from multiple key disciplines and linking them with Apollo Diagnostics LIS and Apollo Hospitals HIS platforms, enabling:

• Real-time monitoring of work flow, workload, TATs, and quality control.
• Advanced six-checkpoint rule based auto-verification, eliminating errors, accelerating validation, and ensuring real-time actionable insights for clinicians.
• Features real-time dashboard monitoring for workload management, TAT, quality control, and critical results.

Performance gains: Clinical and operational outcomes

Automation and robotics have delivered remarkable results in both clinical quality and operational metrics.

Performance metrics: Pre vs post automation Hemolysis rejection rate improved to just 2.1 per cent and sample volume rejection rate reduced to 0.76 per cent.

Rule-based auto verification via navify® Lab ops nLO

Six-checkpoint Auto verification (AV) rule engine now automates result validation by filtering for QC errors, Sample Quality HIL flag, Analyzer flags, Patient delta checks, Critical result flags and clinical correlation.

17,000 to 22,000 results daily are filtered through the AV funnel, run past a rule-engine for 56 conditional clinical correlation checks to ensure accurate clinical interpretation. Each result value is evaluated against 44 clinical conditions for automated expert comments in patient reports, enabling clinicians interpret reports better.

Apollo DigiSmart CRL has achieved an average of 77 per cent results auto verified across 6 clinical specialties.

Empowering people through technology

The Apollo DigiSmart CRL transformation has significantly improved the work environment for medical technicians, driving both efficiency and satisfaction.

• Enhanced productivity
• Sample productivity: Increased by 2.1× per technician.
• Test productivity: Increased by 1.8× per technician.

Staff satisfaction survey results (n=35)

• 95 per cent: Lab is well-organised and aesthetically comfortable.
• 96 per cent: Workloads have been reduced, allowing focus on higher-value tasks.
• 90 per cent: Satisfaction with the transformation.

The Apollo DigiSmart CRL showcases how a digital-first, patient-centric approach can deliver faster, precise diagnostics while driving efficiency and scalability. It sets a new benchmark for modern laboratories by combining advanced technology with human-focused design to achieve measurable improvements in healthcare delivery.