Clinical chemistry laboratories implemented fully automated devices decades before microbiologists started their subtle approaches to follow. Meanwhile several papers have been published about reduced time to reports, faster workflows, and increased sensitivity as results of lab automation. While the journey of automating microbiology workflows step by step was fascinating and beneficial, monetary aspects were uncommon in most publications. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, K. Culbreath, H. Piwonka, J. Korver, and M. Noorbakhsh (J Clin Microbiol 59:e01969-20, https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01969-20) calculate the benefits of total lab automation in terms of cost savings and lab efficiency in a “tale of four laboratories.” The authors here provide facts and solid calculations about the benefits achieved in four different-sized labs after implementation of full laboratory automation.

中文翻译：

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微生物学实验室中的实验室自动化：正在进行的旅程，不是故事吗？

临床化学实验室在微生物学家开始遵循其微妙方法之前几十年就实现了全自动设备。同时，由于实验室自动化的结果，已经发表了几篇论文，这些文章减少了报告时间，加快了工作流程并提高了灵敏度。尽管逐步实现微生物学流程自动化的过程令人着迷且有益，但在大多数出版物中，金钱方面并不常见。在本期《临床微生物学杂志》上，K。Culbreath，H.Piwonka，J.Korver和M.Noorbakhsh（J Clin Microbiol 59：e01969-20，https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01969-20）计算了整个实验室自动化的收益在“四个实验室的故事”中节省成本和提高实验室效率。在此，作者提供了关于在实现完全实验室自动化之后在四个不同规模的实验室中实现的收益的事实和可靠的计算。