by Kyriakos Yiannoukas*
GESY has been active for two years and the report of the Ministry of Health about its operation showed its wide acceptance by the citizens of Cyprus. For the service of all citizens, clinical laboratories are a very important link in the chain of Primary Healthcare whether these services are used privately, or through GESY, or through a private insurance program. But how can a citizen, who is in search for a clinical laboratory, be sure of the quality of the services they will receive?
Accreditation is of major importance
An organization that operates in Cyprus and aims at the continuous provision of upgraded Primary Healthcare (PHC) services, there is no room for rest. Based on this statement, I believe that every Organization that aspires to be a leader in its field, must aim at the excellent technical knowledge, the innovation, and the implementation of the strictest quality standards by obtaining the appropriate accreditations.
For those who do not know, accreditation is one of the ways to distinguish a laboratory. In other words, a qualified body confirms the technical competence of the laboratory in question to run the medical (in our case) tests as well as the reliability of their results. Therefore, the nature, the trust, and the guaranteed high quality of the PHC provider are strengthened.
Additionally, the investment in innovation is of particular importance, which, in the last decade, in the field of public health, is constantly accelerating. Now for example, there are modern robotic systems and automations that on the one hand speed up the whole process, and on the other hand enhance the quality of results, minimizing the possibility of error due to human negligence or other external factors.
Quality services to all
After all, any modern approach to screening does not only consider the universal access of citizens to these services. It also analyzes their quality and aids the average citizen to receive them.
In a case of an individual who lives in a mountainous community of Cyprus and due to their advanced age, or disease, they need more frequent medical examinations. Therefore, we understand the importance of their need to access our services. For these individuals though, high quality services, to which they will have an easy and affordable access, are a critical issue. For this reason, I consider extremely important the existence of a wide network of sampling centers that covers every community in Cyprus. These are the facilities where the citizens go, knowing that their samples will be transferred to the central laboratories for analysis in compliance with the strictest protocols, and at the end, provide reliable results.
The importance of progress
In the field of clinical laboratories, quality preservation is directly linked to continuous development. Development concerns both the equipment and the encouragement of the further training of the personnel, scientific and technical, to always ensure the best experience for the patients.
A clinical laboratory environment that is distinguished for its innovation and quality, is expected to be a magnet, and the preferred employer, of many remarkable and specialized scientists. Especially when these elements can be combined with collaborations at the academic level, the outcomes are translated not only as upgraded benefits to the patients, but also as tools for the development of new scientific and medical knowledge.
Therefore, any Body that wishes to be one of the leading providers of PHC, must integrate this new knowledge into its operations, in a continuous course that results in constantly upgrading the PHC services for everyone.
*CEO of Yiannoukas Medical Laboratories, BIOIATRIKI Healthcare Group in Cyprus (Awarded in the section “Quality of Services” at the Cyprus Healthcare Business Awards)
