Improving Customer Service in South African laboratories using a Laboratory Information Management System

Abstract

Laboratories are essential to maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety for the different services that the public uses. These services range across various industries from accurately diagnosing diseases, drug safety, research and innovation to food and water quality amongst others. As a result, these laboratories need to ensure that they provide comprehensive services that will adhere to the various crucial demands. Several studies, such as an article written by Laboratory Equipment Magazine (2018), outline that many laboratories, both in the academic and commercial sectors, still utilise paper-based techniques due to a variety of issues, including cost, complexity, data security, regulatory compliance, and user acceptability. According to Huser and Cimino (2013), one such technology that can be utilised to meet these service needs is a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), which offers these laboratories a reliable means of managing their operations and gathering sample findings. The purpose of this study was to fill the research gap on how South African laboratories might enhance the services they offer to their clients by using a Laboratory Information Management System. In the context of the South African Laboratory sector, this study presented and evaluated a SERVQUAL model that illustrated the relationship between service quality elements (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles) and customer satisfaction. The research questions from the study were addressed using quantitative data through an online distributed questionnaire. Convenience sampling was used in this study to choose a sample of 113 study participants. At the end of the study, only two of the five proposed hypotheses have been supported by the study's results. These results supported the third hypothesis (Assurance) and the fifth hypothesis (Tangibles), which suggests that assurance, tangibles, and customer satisfaction are positively correlated. Based on the components that were used for this study, the results did not demonstrate that a Laboratory Information Management System assists with v improving customer service as only 2 out of the five hypotheses were supported. This has served as a beneficial starting point to further expand on this research as it can provide much-needed benefits for the South African laboratory community at large