FlowJo® in the Clinical Workflow

Hi, I’m Melanie O’Donahue and I’m a Clinical Application Scientist with FlowJo, LLC, but first and foremost I’m a scientist and health care professional. I have worked in clinical flow cytometry for over 20 years. I am fully aware of just how important the work that we do is for each and every patient we care for. FlowJo, LLC is a company created by scientists to create data analysis tools that help promote progress in research and clinical cytometry and ultimately, save lives. FlowJo® is the leading software in flow cytometry and that is precisely because the software is designed by and for the users.

FlowJo, LLC has created a suite of products that enable ease, efficiency and standardization in the clinical flow cytometry laboratory, from sample collection through final report. FlowJo® is the world’s leading flow cytometry data analysis software, created by users who found available tools lacking, and has been changing and improving with the evolution of flow cytometry ever since. FlowJo Envoy is cloud-based workflow management tool for workflow planning, communication and data management. We want to make your life easier and keep your patients safe, so we provide all of the solutions you need in one place in a fully integrated fashion from sample collection to analysis to final report. FlowJo® supports FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance.

The workflow for a clinical assay, such as Leukemia Lymphoma Immunophenotyping or Stem Cell Enumeration, can be quite complex. How do you currently manage the organization of the workflow, data sharing and storage, communication with team members, documentation and status tracking? We all know that the workflow doesn’t always progress in a nice smooth manner.Have you ever had a patient’s results delayed by a full day or even more because there were issues with the specimen and it needed to be reacquired, or additional tests were added, and it wasn’t discovered until final interpretation? How about data problems? I’ve had an FTP fail and the data had to be put on flash drives and couriered to the pathologists! And all of these problems delay the critical results that a patient is anxiously awaiting. FlowJo Envoy provides a better solution than the medley of systems you’re currently using.

The workflow begins in FlowJo Envoy with the specimen being logged into the system and a workflow initiated. Each step is assigned to a team member, SOPs can be attached to steps for reference, and as each step is completed and checked as Done, the person assigned to the next step is notified. Data is easily uploaded and downloaded an is readily available to each member in your group. The cloud based data storage is securely handled by Amazon Web Services (AWS) who adhere to the regulations set forth from The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA); including encryption, 24/7 logging and physical protection of servers. The instant communication feature facilitates team collaboration.