ABBOTT PARK, Ill., March 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that Regional Medical Laboratory, Inc. (RML) will use the company's most advanced technology, Alinity ci-series, to conduct diagnostic testing for millions of patients. RML, part of the Ascension network, which is the largest non-profit health system in the U.S., performs diagnostics testing for more than 2.4 million patients through hospital systems in Texas, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas and Tennessee.   

Diagnostic testing plays an important role in many aspects of healthcare, guiding 70 percent of critical clinical decisions. Alinity's innovative design provides fast, accurate testing in a smaller footprint that can improve diagnostic testing and increase the potential for RML to impact healthcare. The installation of Alinity in RML facilities will include a custom automation line, which will eliminate many manual procedures, freeing up time for the lab to focus on activity that supports patient care.  

"We know that health systems are facing significant challenges including pressure to perform testing as efficiently as possible with limited staff and space," said Jeremy Schubert, divisional vice president of U.S. commercial operations, diagnostics products, Abbott. "We look forward to bringing Alinity to RML and working together to advance their capabilities and deliver better healthcare performance for health systems in the region."

"Alinity's innovative technology and our new custom automation allows us to provide faster, more accurate patient care while increasing the capacity of our laboratory staff and driving down costs," said C. Terrence Dolan, M.D., president, Regional Medical Laboratory. "This will give our staff opportunity to provide additional test interpretations and recommendations, which in turn will help improve physician and patient satisfaction and outcomes."

RML consistently experiences a 3 to 5 percent increase in test volumes year on year. The scalable design of the Alinity ci-series will make it easier for RML to add additional instruments as their volume continues to rise.

About Alinity
Abbott's Alinity family of harmonized solutions is unprecedented in the diagnostics industry, working together to address the challenges of using multiple diagnostic platforms and simplifying diagnostic testing. Alinity systems are designed to be more efficient – running more tests in less space, generating test results faster and minimizing human errors – while continuing to provide quality results.

The availability of the Alinity systems and tests varies by geography. More information is available at abbott.com/alinity.

About RML
Regional Medical Laboratory, Inc. (RML) is a nationally-renowned commercial reference laboratory that provides testing services for thousands of physicians and hospitals, and through a partnership with Pathology Laboratory Associates, Inc. (PLA), we offer anatomic and clinical pathology services. We are a comprehensive laboratory solution for hospitals, local physicians, and patients. Located in Tulsa, OK, RML was established in 1983 and has grown into a fully integrated community-based asset, performing approximately 9 million clinical and anatomical tests annually including 170,000 surgical specimens per year in our state-of-the-art laboratories on our 12-acre free-standing campus.

About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 103,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.

SOURCE Abbott