CEO SUMMARY: By combining total lab automation with Lean techniques in a comprehensive makeover of its microbiology lab, one of the largest labs providing hospital acute care and community microbiology services in North America achieved major benefits. Benefits ranged from improvements in lab result turnaround time and reduced errors to significant gains in staff productivity and the quality of lab test results. Productivity improvements allowed the micro lab to absorb a 15% increase in specimen volume while staff levels were reduced by six full-time equivalent MLTs.
Combining Lean with Lab Automation to Get Impressive Results
Microbiology lab handles 900,000 specimens yearly
- By Joseph Burns
- > From the Volume XXII No. 10 - July 13, 2015 Issue
- Tags: analyzer, analyzers, Anatomic pathology, automated workflow, bd kiestra tla, cap, clinical lab, Clinical Laboratory, diagnostic lab, diagnostic laboratories, diagnostic laboratory, diagnostic laboratory services, dynalifedx diagnostic laboratory services, hie, kiestra tla, lab automation, lab staff, lab test, lab testing, lab work, laboratories, laboratory automation system, laboratory medicine, laboratory service, laboratory services, laboratory staff, lean method, lean methods, lean techniques, maldi, maldi-tof, mass spec, mass spectrometry, medical lab, Medical laboratory, medical laboratory specialist, medical microbiologist, medical microbiologists, microbiologist, microbiologists, microbiology lab, molecular testing, new diagnostic technologies, pathologists, quality management, specimen handling and processing, specimen processing, staff safety, system workflow, the laboratory, total lab automation, total laboratory automation, total laboratory automation system, workflow improvement
