Abaxis or someone else?

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Bob Russell — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 09:58:17 GMT

I did receive an offer of £500 off the new HM5c which I have declined as paying £5000 for a new machine when the old one is working fine does seem a little silly.

Not sure how technically minded the reps are as I was told one machine connects to the other then to a PC. This does not seem to be the case. The support people at Abaxis are very good although we are still struggling to get Abaxis manager to work.

I would probably do what i did before and import a second hand HM5c machine from the US for under £2000. Did this for the VS2 and got a great machine for less than half the price. Came with a guarantee as well!!

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Rob Loxley — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:35:33 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]Shame nobody really explained this option[/quote]

It is one criticism that I'd share of Abaxis' sales reps - they're very keen to sell you an 'upgraded machine' along with a tie-in to buy lots of consumables, and their latest systems e.g. Fuse, without actually trying to help us work better with what we've got. Even after we bought a recon HM5 we still got the hard sell to upgrade to the HM5c, along with 'upgrading' our current VS2 to another VS2?!

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Bob Russell — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 14:24:34 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]

[quote user="Bob Russell"]We just print off the results and stick them onto A4 paper with the printed off results from the Vetscan 2. Then scanned onto the notes. All very Heath Robinson really![/quote]

It's not too difficult to get the results out of both machines via the USB ports in a PMS-readable format. Have you looked at https://supportsoftware.abaxis.com/adm/ rather than being pushed by the salesmen to upgrade model (which I believe is required to use Fuse).

[/quote]

We are going to get this set up. Shame nobody really explained this option. At all stages we have been told that it should integrate with our PMS. Easier said than done!

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Laurence Webb — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 17:27:06 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]In particular the Procyte is a great bit of kit for haematology and, according to IDEXX, as reliable as an external lab automated haematology as it uses the same technology as commercial lab haematology machines[/quote]

But neither replace the need for someone good to look at blood films?

[/quote]Depends what you are looking for with your blood sample, but no machine will tell you anything much about morphology.

It is however comforting that IDEXX claim that the automated numbers coming out of the in-house machine should be as reliable as those that you get from an external laboratory including their own. Perhaps more so as neutrophils die after 3 hours, so an automated sample from an external lab will be inherently incorrect as the sample is old - that's one of the reasons for sending a fresh blood film away as well as the morphology. You can still send a smear away that they will interpret alongside your in-house results for a tenner, which you will have back the next day.

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Rob Loxley — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 13:46:28 GMT

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Bob Russell — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 10:49:45 GMT

We just print off the results and stick them onto A4 paper with the printed off results from the Vetscan 2. Then scanned onto the notes. All very Heath Robinson really!

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Rob Loxley — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 20:34:24 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]It seems our HM5 cannot talk to the communication system. We would have to upgrade to the newer model for about £5K. Alternative would be to commit to buying more rotas than we use and have the machine updated.[/quote]

What software are you using to get the data off your HM5? We have a slightly custom bit of software that reads the serial output on the USB and dumps it into a text file in a nicely readable format; we then import this text document into our PMS.

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Bob Russell — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:41:31 GMT

I have had more contact with Abaxis and it does seem there has been a bit of miscommunication. Hopefully this will be sorted out this week.

It seems our HM5 cannot talk to the communication system. We would have to upgrade to the newer model for about £5K. Alternative would be to commit to buying more rotas than we use and have the machine updated.

Probably continue to print out paper results, stick them to another piece of paper then manually scan onto the system. Rather laborious and a pain when sending histories, referring and dealing with insurance companies.

Not £5K worth of pain!

We do have an iStat, their urinalysis machine and the rather smart VetScan Vue. Just a shame that processing the results is so inelegant!

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:31:34 GMT

We've got a new Vetscan VS 2 which replaced the old VS 1 which had died and there were no spare parts left. Abaxis gave us an incredible deal and I have to say I've found their support exemplary - fast and effective, especially with Linda Justice our local rep who is amazing.

Our haematology analyser is a venerable Idexx QBC which does the job (most of the time!) albeit we have to write out the results by hand as it won't connect to modern printers or a computer and anything suspicious is then check on a Diff Quick slide.

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Kai Crawshaw — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:15:13 GMT

Hi Kate -

If you are looking for an emergency based analyser - you should look at the VetScan i-STAT 1 https://vet.abaxis.co.uk/products/vetscan-i-stat/ - which is available for as little as £2,500 + VAT.

Many thanks

Kai

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Kai Crawshaw — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:12:02 GMT

Hi Bob,

Kai Crawshaw, Marketing Manager from Abaxis here . . . I hope you don't mind me getting in touch?

Can I ask what support you found 'light' - we are always looking at ways to improve our customer experience and strive to exceed expectations.

What current analysers do you have? Although they may be old, the VetScans have a workman like quality about them and do tend to keep going.

If you are looking, we have a wide range of in-house diagnostic options, which suit almost all needs and all analysers come with a 5 year service contract included in the price, so there are no hidden costs either.

With the financial year coming to an end - we also have some pretty great deals available too!

Let me know if I can send across any product brochures - or perhaps get the Abaxis representative to contact you directly.

Many thanks
Kai

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Rob Loxley — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 13:44:04 GMT

But neither replace the need for someone good to look at blood films?

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Laurence Webb — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 19:21:41 GMT

We had an EPOC machine plus an old VetTest (you can pick them up off Ebay or from medical auctions for next to nothing) and sent everything else off to TDDS. If you can manage a PCV and screen a smear for IMHA then there are few things that are too urgent that they won't wait until the next day. I rented the EPOC machine from Woodley

IDEXX gave us a very attractive deal on consumables and external lab fees if we bought the Catalyst and Procyte, so I got them 18mths ago. Although I was very happy with the EPOC/Vettest/TDDS combo I must say that the in-house stuff is very nice.

In particular the Procyte is a great bit of kit for haematology and, according to IDEXX, as reliable as an external lab automated haematology as it uses the same technology as commercial lab haematology machines.

It is, however, an eye watering investment and I don't think IDEXX are still offering such attractive rebates to offset the investment costs.

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Kate Richardson — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 22:08:24 GMT

Consider investing in an EPOC machine- great emergency database- electrolytes including ionised calcium, hct and haemoglobin, creatinine, lactate and glucose and blood gases (less useful unless arterial sample but does give you an idea of acidosis v alkalosis

Gives enough info to decide if needs immediate action and further bloods immediately or if can wait for external lab which with TDDS an be back by midday the next day in urgent cases or if you have a practice nearby (referral one maybe) they may have a lunchtime courier pick up for same day results (TDDS rocks!)

RE: Abaxis or someone else?

Rob Loxley — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 13:46:05 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]We have found support a little light from Abaxis recently and our equipment is getting a little long in the tooth.[/quote]

We've found the VS2 to be pretty bullet-proof and good for low-use situations. It's old but still runs fine; if it fell over we'd likely fix it/ buy another.

[quote user="Bob Russell"]We do have a good external laboratory (TTDS) therefore it is my decision whether to keep much in house or not[/quote]

We had the same issue regarding an elderly Abaxis HMT haematology analyser that was no longer supported. We didn't want to spend loads given most is sent out and we run low volumes inhouse, so in the end went for a refurb'd HM5 from Abaxis on a 2 yr full warranty and, once teething issues resolved, has been great.

Abaxis don't advertise they will supply warrantied, used machines, but is worth enquiring.