A healthcare system’s clinical laboratory was experiencing seasonal
variation and unpredictability. Leaders within the organization wanted
the ability to effectively manage resources to meet mandated service
levels on a more consistent basis.
An assessment identified the following opportunities:
- Distribution of work was disproportionate across shifts due to
variability in the draw schedule - Lack of blood draw standardization resulted in excessive labor
and supplies spend - Lack of performance metrics at the service line, department, or individual level
- Outpatient courier delivery / pickup schedules mismatched with lab tech workload
- No staffing and scheduling plansto meet demand
- Unclear service level performance visibility
- Ineffective communication of goals, expectations and attainment of results
Carpedia partnered with the client to improve scheduling predictability through a blend of process, system, and behavior changes.
- Secondary activities were identified and repositioned to off-peak hours to improve turnaround time
- Microbiology testing practices were standardized across all campuses
- Collection equipment was standardized to improve shift hand-offs and to reduce cost
- Performance metrics and meeting cadence were instituted across all Labs departments lending visibility to service line performance, departmental performance, as well as individual performance
- Scheduling tools and forecasts were developed to improve predictability of intra-day workloads and resource management
- Daily Huddles were introduced to improve communication
- Active management wasimproved through Carpedia College training and on-the-job coaching
The Results
The engagement resulted in improved resource planning predictability and communication and had a positive impact on staff morale and retention.
Specific results include:
- 2.3:1 Return on Investment
- $1M in annualized savings (labor and supplies)
- 5% overall labor productivity improvement
- 9% lab assistant productivity improvement
- 3% improvement in general (med tech), histology, and microbiology
- 5% supplies spend improvement
- 98% resource planning accuracy
