Covenant Pathology Services

Zavanta Software Helps Covenant Pathology Services Operationalize Quality and Compliance

 

" I felt like a ‘golden god’ after our first inspection using Zavanta. The inspection was pretty painless because I had all the answers at my fingertips. The inspectors finished in half the time planned.”

Jessi Gunter, Quality Manager

 

Our Client

Covenant Pathology Services

Covenant Pathology Services (CPS) is a CAP-accredited, state-of-the-art laboratory system with labs in Nashville and San Francisco. CPS specializes in gastrointestinal pathology with a staff of GI fellowship-trained pathologists. These experts are always available to clients for consultation and questions. 

Covenant’s uniqueness is its rapid turnaround time, which can mean the difference between life and death. They can trace the patient’s specimen from the laboratory door to the pathologist’s desk with a report rendered within 24-48 hours of receipt into their laboratory.  

With an experienced staff having over 300 years combined of laboratory experience, a dedicated quality management staff and customer service team, CPS can accommodate the varying requests and needs of physicians and surgery centers all over the United States. 

Business Challenge

Ensuring that employees are operating by quality standards while managing regulatory compliance is a major challenge for laboratories. At Covenant Pathology Services, Jessi Gunter, Quality Manager, handles it all.  

Jessi credits Zavanta’s capabilities for easier audits/inspections as well as improved employee performance support.  

Prior to Zavanta, inspections were a massive challenge. Jessi managed everything for various local, state, and federal compliance in MS Excel spreadsheets.  

“Inspections can be scary -- 5 people walking around with clipboards -- when inspectors come on site. I can sit an inspector in front of Zavanta and say ‘have at it’ because the system is friendly enough for them to navigate. They can easily see you’ve got your bases covered. I felt like a ‘golden god’ after our first inspection using Zavanta. The inspection was pretty painless because I had all the answers at my fingertips. The inspectors finished in half the time planned.” 

 

 

“Inspections can be scary -- 5 people walking around with clipboards -- when inspectors come on site. I can sit an inspector in front of Zavanta and say ‘have at it’ because the system is friendly enough for them to navigate.

 

 

The Solution: Zavanta

Covenant’s Portal gives people the answers they deserve. 

Jessi shares, “I love the ability to customize our Portal. Zavanta’s search gives employees answers IN WRITING – they deserve that. It’s helpful to see what employees search for. Searches tell us if we need to fine-tune an SOP or if there is something we’re lacking; is there something about this SOP that’s hard to understand? I can see trends, particularly when we bring in new employees. Everyone searches for things differently. Sometimes, people are looking for an SOP, and sometimes, they’re looking for a regulation. With Zavanta’s pick lists and filters, we can organize SOPs by standard or regulation.“

 

Zavanta Feature Highlights 

Automation Saves Everyone Valuable Time

“Zavanta’s automation has been one of the biggest benefits for us. We have periodic reviews of all our policies and procedures. Being able to email someone a link instead of having them have to hunt for something on a shared drive has saved everyone time, including our Pathologists and Medical Directors.”

Continuous Process Improvement

Jessi credits Zavanta for ensuring more engaging, usable SOPs. “We document everything, every event, every area of our operations. If an SOP is too vague, or a step is incorrect, its easy to revise and re-examine the SOP. We tell everyone: Write the SOP as if [the reader] has never done it before.”

Easing Maintenance

“We deal with so many different regulations, and sometimes they change, sometimes they merge. The ability to make changes across all documents is extremely helpful.” 

 

“I’m not at all hesitant to say that your support staff is the most excellent support staff I have ever encountered.”