Sep 17, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Lean Six Sigma and other methods helping laboratories cut costs and boost quality
“Cash is King!” aptly describes how most clinical labs and pathology groups are working to squeeze additional cost savings from operations during the final months of 2009. In fact, with a full quarter left in the year, nimble lab executives and managers still have plenty of remaining time to implement cost-saving initiatives that can produce savings of several tens of thousands of dollars less than budgeted spending before December 31, 2009.
That makes it perfect that the 3rd annual Lab Quality Confab on Quality Management in Diagnostic Medicine takes place on September 29-30, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. For lab managers serious about producing substantial results during the fourth quarter of 2009, the Confab is the ultimate one-stop resource for Lean, Six Sigma, ISO, and all the tools and tricks of rapid process improvement (RPI).
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Aug 18, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
Hospital labs come in under budget—while still improving quality, service, and revenue
Despite the recession, most first-rank hospital and health system laboratories in the United States remain upbeat about the financial integrity of their organization and their ability to negotiate the deepest economic recession since 1981-82. One reason this is true is the use of Lean, Six Sigma, and similar continuous improvement methods in the nation’s most progressive clinical labs and pathology groups.
Unlike the recession of 28 years ago, clinical laboratories today can use their experienced Lean teams to trim costs without comparable reductions in quality or service. Not surprisingly, clinical laboratories were quick to recognize how, during this economic recession, their existing Lean and process improvement programs could be tweaked with minimal effort to produce maximum operational savings. Thus, hospital labs during the past 12 months have been able to cut significant cost from their operations without any compromise in quality or the level of service they deliver to referring physicians.
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