News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel
Here is your personal invitation to join us for the Third Annual Lab Quality Confab, scheduled for September 29-30, 2009 at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel.
Lab Quality Confab is now the lab industry’s biggest international gathering about Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement. You’ll be glad to learn that this year’s upcoming Lab Quality Confab is bigger, better, and has exceptional learning opportunities for you, including: (more…)
There’s a hot new trend emerging among a handful of the nation’s more sophisticated and tightly-managed laboratories. These innovators have hit on a “lab operation home run!” They are combining Lean process improvement methods with the latest-generation automation solutions and highly-automated analyzers. As a result, they are achieving mind-blowing, amazingly fast turnaround times while simultaneously boosting med tech productivity and slashing operational costs. At the same time, such labs are avoiding the pitfall of “automating bad work practices.”
These pioneering laboratories are demonstrating that laboratory automation has come of age-particularly when the laboratory uses Lean Six Sigma methods to configure an instrument footprint and specimen flow through the lab, thus taking maximum advantage of automated systems and analyzers. This is a radical change from just five and eight years ago, when lab automation was less capable and most labs knew very little about Lean and Six Sigma approaches.
At the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, the hematology department was among the first labs to explore the benefits of digitized images, produced by automated systems. It was a beta site for the early automated microscope that is now often seen in hematology labs. Process improvement methods, including Lean techniques, were used to re-engineer work flow so that the performance of automated analyzers and digitized slide images was moved to a very high level of throughput and quality. At this year’s Lab Quality Confab in Atlanta on September 24-25, UTMB Automation Supervisor Laurie Emanuel will present a case study on how her laboratory has combined automation, middleware, digital imaging, and process improvement methods to deliver faster, higher-quality results, even as the number of med techs needed in the department’s analytical line declined from three to just one.
Combining new, sophisticated automation systems with the Lean mindset is transforming the histology laboratory at Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Exciting new automation solutions are arriving in histology and this laboratory, proficient in Lean techniques, is developing unique work flow and work process approaches that are already exceeding industry norms for turnaround time, productivity, quality, and cost-effectiveness. Leo Serrano, Director of Laboratory Services at Avera, will be sharing these secrets at Lab Quality Confab.
Another area where automation is beginning to alter long-standing work processes is microbiology. At BC Biomedical Laboratories in Surry, British Columbia, the microbiology laboratory installed a new automated specimen processing/preparation system, then watched in dismay as work backed up at the instrument (Proving the truth of that industrial engineering adage: “Don’t automate bad work processes.”). According to Scott Henwick, M.D., Clinical Director, Microbiology at BC Biomed, the micro team then turned to the help of an experienced veteran of Lean. Microbiology workflow was reconfigured to incorporate the best applications of “pull,” takt time, and small batch/single piece workflow. Those simple changes unlocked the productivity of the automated system and the micro lab is posting continuous improvements in all important metrics. Dr. Henwick will discuss this case study at Lab Quality Confab in a session titled: “Why Automation Bollixed Efficient Workflow in Microbiology and How Lean Fixed It.”
These three examples embody this new trend of innovative laboratories combining, blending, and integrating automation solutions with Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement principles. Laboratory managers, pathologists, and others wanting to understand this powerful new opportunity in lab management will find the second annual Lab Quality Confab on Quality Management in Diagnostic Medicine to be a comprehensive resource. Lab Quality Confab will take place on September 24-25, 2008 at the Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
More than 50 sessions and topics will be presented, covering the full range of laboratory and pathology operations, ranging from specimen collection and courier logistics to using Lean with automation in the high-volume core laboratory. Poster sessions will take place, and national awards and prizes totaling $6,000 will be awarded. To see topics, speakers, and all the events at Lab Quality Confab, visit http://www.labqualityconfab.com.
To register for Lab Quality Confab, visit http://www.labqualityconfab.com.
Finally, laboratory vendors are waking up to this highly-productive intersection of matching their automated systems and sophisticated analyzers with Lean, Six Sigma, and similar process improvement techniques. At Lab Quality Confab, management master classes will be conducted on these topics by experts from Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics , Siemens Diagnostics , Sysmex , BD Diagnostics , Abbott Diagnostics , and Beckman Coulter , among others.
Related Info:
Four Easy Ways to Register:
1. Register ONLINE
2. Call 800-560-6363. Our friendly staff can register you quickly and easily, as well as answer any questions you may have.
No, it’s not karate that will be the topic of this Black Belt gathering! Early this fall, the world’s largest gathering of Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts working in laboratories and hospitals will assemble in Atlanta, Georgia. They will gather to share best practices and innovations in the use of Lean, Six Sigma, and Rapid Process Improvement methods in clinical laboratories, hospitals/health systems, pathology groups, and in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers.
Speakers involved in Lean Six Sigma programs in laboratories and hospitals from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Sweden will deliver presentations to a crowd expected to swell past 300. All of this global activity is powerful evidence that healthcare is embracing quality management methods, including Lean, Six Sigma, Rapid Process Improvement, and ISO:15180.
In fact, last year, The Dark Report assessed the extent of Lean and Six Sigma programs in laboratories and hospitals/health systems across the United States and concluded that, as a trend, use of quality management systems was now in a phase of general adoption. It was in 2003 that the first three major hospital laboratories in this country boldly experimented with Lean by radically restructuring their high-volume core laboratories. Use of Lean techniques like small batch and single piece work flow allowed DSI Laboratories (Fort Myers, Florida), West Tennessee Healthcare Laboratories (Jackson, Tennessee), and Fairview Health Laboratories (Minneapolis, Minnesota) to achieve remarkable gains. In projects lasted around 12 to 15 weeks, and each lab reported 50% reductions in average lab test turnaround times, along with labor productivity increases exceeding 40%.
In 2003, it was just these three pioneering laboratories. By 2007, several hundred hospital laboratories had active Lean and Six Sigma quality programs. Pathology groups, inspired by what they see happening in clinical laboratories and the hospitals they serve, are also initiating Lean and Six Sigma projects. It took just four years for this trend to gather credibility, acceptance and momentum. 2007 was the year that the Lean Six Sigma trend moved from the early-adopter stage into general acceptance.
Laboratory managers, pathologists, and others wanting to learn more about quality management will find the second annual Lab Quality Confab on Quality Management in Diagnostic Medicine to be a comprehensive resource. Lab Quality Confab will take place on September 24-25, 2008 at the Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 50 sessions and topics will be presented, covering the full range of laboratory and pathology operations, ranging from specimen collection and courier logistics to using Lean with automation in the high-volume core laboratory. Poster sessions will take place, and national awards and prizes totaling $6,000 will be awarded. To see topics, speakers, and all the events at Lab Quality Confab, visit http://www.labqualityconfab.com.
To register for Lab Quality Confab, visit http://www.labqualityconfab.com/register.htm.
Lab directors and pathologists wanting to continuously improve their laboratory operations and workflow will find Lab Quality Confab to be a comprehensive, one-stop resource concerning Lean, Six Sigma, Rapid Process Improvement, and ISO:15189. At one time and in one place, the nation’s leading labs and hospitals will share their case studies and exchange innovations. Your laboratory should not pass up this exceptional opportunity to get lots of knowledge, build a network, and meet all the consultants and experts who can help your lab build a top-performing Lean Six Sigma program.
Related Information:
Four Easy Ways to Register:
1. Register ONLINE
2. Call 800-560-6363. Our friendly staff can register you quickly and easily, as well as answer any questions you may have.
3. Fax this complete registration form to 512-264-0969
4. Mail the one page form with payment to:
THE DARK REPORT
21806 Briarcliff Dr.
Spicewood, TX 78669
