The Hitchhiker's Guide to Improving Efficiency in the Clinical Laboratory

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Improving Efficiency in the Clinical Laboratory provides a simple but comprehensive guide on how to improve laboratory efficiency by using a variety of methods that will reduce the cost per test. Strategies for increasing test volume include expanding the core business through outreach and merger or consolidation of laboratory services. Strategies for reducing laboratory operating costs include automation, point-of-care testing, and diversification of technical staff. A chapter on how to negotiate a contract with a managed care organization is included. Emphasis is placed on how to evaluate, implement, and monitor the success of each of these methods for improving laboratory efficiency. This book is for all those who are concerned with quality in laboratory medicine in an environment of decreasing financial resources. Laboratory professionals at all levels who enjoy utilizing the concept of decision-making based on assumptions supported by data and change transformation, as well as planning based on simulation and modeling, will benefit from the concepts and examples presented in this book. Hospital administrators, laboratory managers, and those undertaking undergraduate or postgraduate courses in laboratory medicine will gain insight into current issues and well-defined solutions to the problem of increasing sample volume and reduced reimbursement.