{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T11:07:03Z","timestamp":1790161623779,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Turnaround time (TAT) is an important indicator of laboratory efficiency; however, limited information is available regarding its assessment in veterinary diagnostic laboratories.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A retrospective and prospective observational study was conducted between April and May 2024. TAT was defined as the interval from blood sample collection to final report dissemination and was subdivided into pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical phases. Only complete serum biochemical profiles comprising liver and kidney function tests were included. Comparative analysis among routine weekday, weekend, and emergency workflows was performed using the Kruskal\u2013Wallis test followed by Dunn\u2019s post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results and discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Among the approximately 300 biochemical samples processed during the study period, 82 routine samples fulfilled the predefined inclusion criteria and were included in the comparative analysis, comprising 54 weekday and 28 weekend samples. In addition, all eligible emergency samples were evaluated as a separate operational category. Mean total TAT was highest during weekend operations (2959.9 \u00b1 50.3 min), followed by routine weekdays (1528.5 \u00b1 20.0 min), whereas emergency samples exhibited the shortest TAT (54.7 \u00b1 9.1 min). The post-analytical phase contributed the largest proportion of total TAT and demonstrated significant variation among groups (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001), while analytical performance remained consistent across operational categories (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;gt; 0.05). Pre- and post-analytical processes accounted for 99.45 and 99.72% of total TAT during routine weekday and weekend operations, respectively. The findings demonstrate that TAT variability in veterinary biochemistry laboratories is predominantly driven by post-analytical workflow factors. Targeted improvements in reporting and validation processes may substantially enhance laboratory efficiency and diagnostic service delivery in veterinary healthcare settings.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2026.1846768","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T10:13:25Z","timestamp":1790158405000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Where is the delay? A phase-wise analysis of turnaround time in a veterinary biochemistry laboratory"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Himalaya","family":"Bhardwaj","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sugam","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rohit Kumar","family":"Jaiswal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Livestock Product Technology, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aseem Kumar","family":"Anshu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Livestock Product Technology, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ajeet","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Riyaz Ahmed","family":"Siddique","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amrita","family":"Behera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deepak","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Pathology, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kaushlendra","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Nutrition, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rajesh","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pankaj","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vivek Kumar","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pallav","family":"Shekhar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine, Bihar Veterinary College, Bihar Animal Sciences University","place":["Patna, Bihar, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e28824","DOI":"10.7759\/cureus.28824","article-title":"Turnaround time: an efficacy measure for medical laboratories","volume":"14","author":"Dawande","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"376","DOI":"10.1007\/s12291-010-0056-4","article-title":"Turn around time (TAT) as a benchmark of laboratory performance","volume":"25","author":"Goswami","year":"2010","journal-title":"Ind J Clin Biochem"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"724","DOI":"10.1309\/ajcpyhbt9oqrm8dx","article-title":"Determination of turnaround time in the clinical laboratory","volume":"138","author":"Stotler","year":"2012","journal-title":"Am J Clin Pathol"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.31354\/globalce.v7i1.201","article-title":"Research on strategies for improving turnaround time efficiency through automation tools","volume":"7","author":"Zou","year":"2025","journal-title":"GlobalCE"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1309\/h0dy-6vtw-nb36-u3l6","article-title":"Laboratory results. 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