Support departments

Departments


Pre Analytical - Data Entry and Specimen Reception Area

In Specimen Reception Area (SRA) you will find the people who register the specimen, and its identifying information, and enter them into the laboratory information system. When specimens need to be shared between departments for testing they are prepared here. The people who work here have to be accurate and cool headed, and be able to deal with the busy times of the day when samples are coming in thick and fast.

Once the specimen is registered the rest of the accompanying information – usually the request forms sent by the referring doctors or collectors – are entered into the computer system. Like all other jobs in pathology, data entry operators have to have excellent attention to detail skills coupled with amazing dexterity to enable them to accurately record the data. Their role is crucial to the whole pathology testing operation.

 

Quality Systems

Pathology laboratories are among the most regulated sections of healthcare. Strict quality control systems are in place to ensure accuracy of testing and tracking of samples. SNP has a team dedicated to designing and implementing QC systems. The Quality Systems team is central to achieving and maintaining the many accreditations SNP holds, including medical testing, quality systems, environmental and customer service.

The Quality Systems department administers the Quality Improvement Notification (QIN) system. QIN’s are raised when any continuous improvement opportunity is identified. All members of the organisation are encouraged to raise QIN’s. They are tracked, trended and reported by the Quality Systems team.


Database Control

Updating and maintenance of the hospital and doctor databases are vital to ensure that all guidelines are met in accordance with Medicare Australia legislation and the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Without having the correct doctor, patient and Medicare information, it is impossible to deliver reports to the right doctor and accurately bill the patient.


IT Engineering Support

The laboratory information system, The Apollo, is provided and maintained by the Sonic Healthcare IT group. Programmers are located in Brisbane, at Taringa and Greenslopes, and in other major cities throughout Australia. These teams provide the programming capabilities to continuously upgrade the computer to ensure the latest technologies are available. They are on-call to service computers across the network 24/7.


Network IT Support

Like all modern organisations, SNP depends on its computer technology for all its communications. The Network IT Support team provides troubleshooting assistance for all desk top computers and the telephone system throughout the organisation.


Doctor’s IT Services

The majority of test results are sent to doctors by secure email. The Doctor’s IT team ensures that the systems are continually being developed and upgraded and run smoothly. They ensure that the connection between the referring doctors’ computers or the hospital mainframe computers remains open and trouble-free.

Library Services

The Taringa library co-ordinates and arranges journal subscriptions, book orders and provides support for staff in their research.


Workplace Health and Safety

This service provides specific advice to managers and employees on health, safety, equal opportunity and rehabilitation.


Communicating with Doctors

The Doctor Service Centre provides doctors with a one-stop-shop for all enquiries. This can be anything and everything from ordering stores, obtaining additional results, requesting subsequent tests for patients based on the results of previous tests, lodging complaints and much more. They are the team who understands the meaning of excellence in customer service and they strive to make the experience for the doctor exceed his or her expectations.

The territory managers are the coal face between the doctors and Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology. They keep in regular contact with, and meet the doctors, to identify opportunities for continuous improvement. They also visit doctors and nurses in hospitals to educate them in the latest regulatory requirements and tests procedures and make sure that they are receiving the services that they need to deliver excellence in patient care. Territory managers come from various backgrounds and all are specialists in their fields: nurses and collectors, lab technicians and IT technicians.


Marketing

The marketing team produces the external publications and coordinates the educational activities that deliver medical education to doctors and patients.


Professional Development and Training

This is the unit responsible for developing formal training programs, linking them, where possible, to national training packages and obtaining accreditation for the courses. The courses include a wide range of subjects and cover laboratory and non laboratory areas. The operations manager has overall responsibility for the practice's standing as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).


Essential Services

This is the department responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly—air conditioning, electrical equipment, plumbing, building maintenance. It is also responsible for the fit out of new collection centres, laboratories and offices, and refurbishment of existing facilities so that both staff and patients are comfortable during the pathology experience.

The Supply Department

This department coordinates the purchase and distribution of consumables for the practice. As a central service, they coordinate the ordering, processing and distribution of all supplies for every campus of the organisation including the 22 laboratory campuses and 220 collection centres. They the drivers of lean engineering, ensuring that all areas of the organisation run smoothly.


Commercial Services

Human resource management, accounting, payroll, paying bills, signing leases, auditing, it’s all in a days work for the commercial services team. Lead by a team of accountants and financial wizards, the team keeps the finances in order. No mean feat, when considering leases alone, the organisation maintains >300. The team provides all accounting services including accounts payable and receipting. The payroll team processes salaries and wages.