Impact of Total Laboratory Automation on Urine Culture Turnaround Time: A Comparative Study Between Manual Workflow and WASPLab™

Background: Turnaround time (TAT) is a key performance indicator in clinical microbiology, particularly for urine cultures, which represent a high-volume workload and directly impact antimicrobial stewardship. Methods: This retrospective observational study compared urine culture TAT before (2023, manual workflow) and after (2025, total laboratory automation using WASPLab™) implementation in a high-volume reference laboratory. A total of 16,210 cultures in 2023 and 60,474 in 2025 were included. TAT was defined as the time from laboratory receipt to final report validation. Results: Implementation of total laboratory automation significantly reduced median TAT for both negative cultures (from 49.68 to 34.38 h) and positive cultures (from 50.42 to 34.62 h) (p < 0.001). In addition, variability in reporting times decreased, indicating improved consistency. Laboratory productivity increased from 2316 to 7559 cultures per full-time equivalent, representing a 3.26-fold improvement. Conclusions: Total laboratory automation significantly improved the speed and consistency of urine culture reporting, supporting enhanced laboratory efficiency and facilitating timely clinical decision-making.