[Automation and consolidation of clinical biology: the HIA Begin experiment]

Reorganization of hospital or private sector labs is a strong trend. Such process implies consolidation of tests on a minimum of analyzers, harmonization of equipment (limitation of number of suppliers), posts number reduction, and development of powerful software. Increase of productivity needs set up of automation systems, specially at the level of pre-analytical phase, in a way to limit manual steps. At the same moment, quality improvement generates a decreasing TAT (Turn-Around-Time), a strong reduction of errors, a better protection against biological hazards, and standardization of sample management and validation process. After giving some notions about consolidation and integration, our choices for a brand new and innovative solution are explained.