[Analysis of the implementation of a unified transportation system of the neonatal screening samples in Catalonia.]

Abstract

The Neonatal Screening Program in Catalonia from its inception fifty years ago until today, has enabled the early diagnosis and treatment of more than 2,000 newborns. In the last decade, the Program has undergone various extensions regarding its panel of diseases and has improved its evaluation with the inclusion of quality indicators in all its stages. One of the pending subjects of the screening program has been the improvement of the quality indexes related to the sample's arrival time to the laboratory after their extraction. The extension of the territory, the dispersion of numerous maternal centers, as well as the diversity and heterogeneity of the sample transport systems, have been an obstacle to quality compliance of these indexes. With the aim of reducing the period of samples arrival to the laboratory and continue to move towards meeting the standards established by the Ministry of Health, in 2020 a unified sample transport system has been implemented for the entire Catalan territory. The times obtained during the first months with the new system, have shown a notable improvement in the results, achieving a reduction of 50% of the days between the extraction of the sample and its arrival at the laboratory.