Case Study
A lean chemistry team replaces Excel binders with one organized workflow, executing 1,223 IT validation test cases in just over 40 hours for a move to new Abbott analyzers and middleware.
UI Health, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System
Executive Summary
UI Health, the academic health enterprise of the University of Illinois Chicago, was changing chemistry vendors. The move to the Abbott Alinity ci system for general chemistry and immunoassay brought new analyzers, new AlinIQ Analyzer Management System (AMS) middleware, a track system and new reagents, and the team had limited staff and time to plan and perform full IT validation to the LIS.
Partway into the project, Abbott introduced UI Health to Cymetryc. Two testers executed and documented 1,223 IT validation test cases in Cymetryc in just over 40 hours, while a manager and a director approved results as testing progressed. Issues were logged and assigned to UI Health IT or Abbott from the same place, with every exchange visible to everyone involved.
The team brought the new instrumentation live with every validation scenario completed and documented, then auto-generated detail and summary reports that show exactly how each parameter and rule was validated, ready for CAP inspection.
Alinity ci analyzers, AlinIQ AMS middleware, a track system and new reagents
1,223 IT validation test cases executed in just over 40 hours, documented and approved in Cymetryc
Auto-generated detail and summary reports, ready for CAP inspection
“It took us a bit to learn and get used to how to build the cases and document. But once we went through it to see how the workflow helps, we could not imagine going back to using Excel.”
— Beatriz Bayod, Chemistry Operations Manager, UI Health
The Challenge
UI Health planned the Abbott implementation in two phases: first validating the Alinity analyzers and AlinIQ AMS, then implementing the Abbott GLP track management system. The chemistry team had to plan and perform full IT validation to the LIS, and its usual tool for documenting that work was Excel.
On earlier implementations, UI Health documented IT validation in Excel. Each test scenario recorded the sample ID it was tested against, which worked until someone needed to find a specific result.
“When the CAP inspector wants to see where we validated, say the sodium high or low alert, it would be such a challenge to find it in the multiple binders. Excel is not an efficient or organized way to document for CAP inspections, and it cannot help ensure that we did not miss anything in the validation.”
— Beatriz Bayod
With an entire analyzer line changing at once, the team needed a structure that showed what had been tested, what was still pending and where the evidence for any rule could be found.
The team needed proof that nothing was missed, organized so an inspector could find any rule without searching through binders.
The Project
Partway into the project, Abbott introduced UI Health to Cymetryc, a cloud-based platform that organizes IT validation test scripts, documents testing and approvals, captures and communicates issues, tracks progress and generates formatted, inspection-ready reports. Cymetryc support walked the team through its first test cases and stayed close as questions came up.
UI Health assigned two testers, a chemistry supervisor and a lead technologist, to execute the test cases and capture screen prints in Cymetryc. A manager and a director followed behind, approving results as testing was completed. Test cases were organized in groups so the team could prioritize what mattered most for go-live, and every result and approval was saved to the cloud as it happened, ready for reporting.
UI Health completed all 1,223 IT validation test cases in just over 40 hours of execution, with an additional 47 hours of test preparation.
“The beauty of Cymetryc is that you can have as many people as you need working in it at the same time and they won’t step on each other because it is clear what validation testing has to be done and what is still pending.”
— Beatriz Bayod
When testing uncovered issues, they were logged in Cymetryc and assigned for resolution, some to the UI Health IT team and some to Abbott. “Communicating within Cymetryc is just very clear,” said Beatriz. “Everyone can see and review all of the communications back and forth between the parties. There is a lot of transparency.”
Managers and directors could see exactly what percentage of testing was complete, giving leadership the numbers to set target goals.
Results & Impact
1,223
IT Validation Test Cases
Executed, documented and approved in Cymetryc, organized in groups to prioritize go-live readiness
40+
Hours of Test Execution
All 1,223 test cases executed in just over 40 hours, plus 47 hours of test preparation
2
Testers
A chemistry supervisor and a lead technologist carried the testing, with a manager and a director approving behind them
10/10
Support
“The customer service was a 10,” in Beatriz Bayod’s words
“I love, love the reports. You can find exactly how you validated every parameter and every rule. … In the past when we were performing Excel-based IT validation, we had to put a lot of faith and trust that people were doing the right thing because it was impossible to go through every sample ID and verify that everything was covered. But with Cymetryc you have a guarantee that it was done.”
— Beatriz Bayod, Chemistry Operations Manager, UI Health
Next Phase
For Beatriz, the switch came down to a workflow that kept everyone on the same page and support that stayed close from the first test case. Abbott’s introduction meant the team could adopt Cymetryc mid-project rather than wait for the next implementation.
“It was great that Abbott introduced us to Cymetryc and very nice that they were able to offer it to help us move efficiently through IT validation,” she said.
“Honestly, I think the Cymetryc support was definitely key for us to be successful. They really helped us and walked us through the initial test cases and they really guided us. Once we got started we had more questions and they were right there continuously. The customer service was a 10, it was extremely helpful.”
— Beatriz Bayod, Chemistry Operations Manager, UI Health
Cymetryc support walked the team through its first test cases and stayed available as questions came up.
Abbott introduced Cymetryc and offered it to help UI Health move efficiently through IT validation.
Detail and summary reports generated at the end of testing, with no binders to assemble.
Security & compliance
SOC 2
Type 2
ISO
27001:2022
HIPAA
Compliant
GDPR
Compliant
