Improving Turnaround Times with Artificial Intelligence in Microbiology

This dual-center study evaluated the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on urine culture turnaround times in Canadian diagnostic laboratories employing full microbiology laboratory automation. Data were collected before and after the implementation of PhenoMATRIX (PM), an AI-based software designed to support culture sorting and result interpretation. In both a low-volume tertiary care hospital and a high-volume community laboratory, PM reduced the time to final culture reporting, with decreases of approximately 1.5 hours and 3.9 hours, respectively. Implementation of PM+, which automatically releases defined results to patient charts, further improved turnaround time. These findings indicate that microbiology laboratories with full laboratory automation can achieve further improvements in turnaround time by integrating AI-culture assessment and results release.