The Medical Technologist is known for running tests on various samples. The samples could include blood (serum and plasma), urine, stool, cerebral spinal fluid, and other samples depending on the laboratory’s test menu.

Performs Laboratory Testing: What this typically means is the Medical Technologist will be given a tube of blood from the phlebotomist (person who performs the blood draw). That tube is uncapped, placed in a tube holder (carrier or rack), and placed on the analyzer (machine that does the testing). The analyzer uses an internal probe to draw some of the fluid and performs the testing.

There isn’t always an analyzer for tests. For example, a common laboratory test is hCG (the pregnancy test). This is typically a kit test with a cassette and a dropper. The Medical Technologist will use the dropper to suck up some of the patient sample to “load” the cassette, and then interpret the results.

STAT testing is generally the most urgent status in the laboratory. When a sample is labeled as STAT, the Medical Technologist places immediate priority on that sample. Typically labs perform STAT testing within 30 minutes.

Reviews Results for Accuracy: The job of the Medical Technologist is NOT to give the doctor “normal” results. The job is to give accurate results. The Medical Technologist is responsible for reviewing the results that the analyzer gives. For example, if the analyzer tested for Potassium and gave a value of 6.5 mEq/L, it is the job of the Medical Technologist to know that value is CRITICAL. The Medical Technologist may repeat the test to verify the accuracy of that result. The Medical Technologist would then call the provider’s office to notify them of the critical value.

Problem Solves: The Medical Technologist is required to know their analyzers and how they work. When the analyzer errors, the Medical Technologist will perform various functions to determine the source of the error. If the error is within the scope of the Medical Technologist, they will be required to fix the issue (replace a part, clean a sensor, etc.). If the issue lies outside the scope of the Medical Technologist, then the Medical Technologist will call the Technical Support for that particular analyzer.

Reports Accurate and Timely Information: When a patient sees a doctor, the patient is typically stressed and wants answers. Up to 70% of the information the doctor uses to diagnose a patient comes from laboratory testing. With those in mind, it is important for the Medical Technologist to develop efficient routines to deliver results to the doctor as quickly and accurately as possible.

Quality Control Testing: Before patient samples can be tested on an analyzer, it's important to know that the analyzer is producing accurate results. To test the quality of results from the analyzer, the Medical Technologist will perform Quality Control (or "run controls"). Controls are samples with known values. For example, Control 1 might have a Glucose value of 85 mg/dL and Control 2 might have a Glucose value of 250 mg/dL. If the machine produces results close to those values, then the Medical Technologist can be confident that the Glucose values they produce for patients are accurate.

Maintains Records and Documentation: Most laboratories have a Laboratory Information System (or LIS). This system manages patient records and will often store those records. Beyond patient results, the laboratory also produces Quality Control values. These records, along with maintenance performed and temperatures recorded (other tasks a Medical Technologist may perform) must be stored for a minimum of two years. If it's not written down, it never happened.

Corrective Action: If Quality Controls don't produce accurate results, then the Medical Technologist needs to determine the reason. Could it be bad controls? Could it be a dirty sensor that needs cleaning? Could it be the reagent (the internal testing material) is old and degrading? The Medical Technologist must perform these corrective measures until the tested control results come back into an acceptable range.

Performs Reviews of Quality Control Data: The LIS stores a lot of data points from controls run. This data is gathered into a chart or graph to show how accurate that particular test is performing over a period of time. The common chart used is called the Levey-Jennings (or LJ) chart. The Medical Technologist will look at this chart and determine if the analyzer needs to be calibrated (tweaked to fix accuracy).

Performs Preventative Maintenance: Every analyzer in the laboratory has a set of care instructions. In the lab, we call this maintenance. Analyzers may have Daily Maintenance, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual, or Annual Maintenance. Some maintenance is done before Quality Controls are run. Some maintenance is done at the end of the shift or work day.

Maintenance could include things like "Inspect Tubing for Leaks" or "Clean Probes with Deionized Water." The same way a car needs oil changes, analyzers in the lab need maintenance to perform at a high level.

Calibration Procedures: To tweak the accuracy of an analyzer's test performance, the Medical Technologist will perform a calibration. For a test like Sodium, the calibrator will be a series of samples with known sodium levels. The Medical Technologist will program the analyzer to run these samples. The analyzer will then perform the necessary calculations to modify how the analyzer reads the samples. The Medical Technologist will verify the quality of the calibration by running controls to verify the analyzer's accuracy.

Proficiency Testing: Laboratories are regulated by CLIA - a state agency that provides laboratories with certificates allowing them to bill Medicaid and insurances. To insure labs are accurately reporting results, laboratories are compared against one another. In order to test them against each other, a third party company will produce special samples called Proficiency Samples. When a laboratory receives these samples, the Medical Technologist is responsible for testing those samples just like they would a real human patient sample. Then, the Medical Technologist gathers the results and submits them to the Proficiency provider to be scored.

Proficiency Testing is basically an exam for labs. If they pass, they get to keep being a lab. If they fail, they might have to stop doing the test that failed.

In large laboratories, it is common for the shifts to be defined by a functional area. An example of a functional area may be "Chemistry." For the Chemistry area, there may be one or two Medical Technologists that perform all Chemistry testing. The Medical Technologist will be given patient samples to run on their analyzer. They run the sample, review the results, and then approve results to be sent to the doctor/provider. Once that testing is complete, the Medical Technologist may take that same sample and give it to another functional area for a different Medical Technologist to perform testing.

Key Operator is a term used to assign a Medical Technologist to know more about one particular analyzer. The other Medical Technologists would come to you for special information regarding that particular analyzer (how to perform special maintenance, etc.).