TY - JOUR
T1 - Inpatient preanalytic process improvements
AU - Wagar, Elizabeth A.
AU - Phipps, Ron
AU - Del Guidice, Robert
AU - Middleton, Lavinia P.
AU - Bingham, John
AU - Prejean, Cheryl
AU - Johnson-Hamilton, Martha
AU - Philip, Pheba
AU - Le, Ngoc Han
AU - Muses, Waheed
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - Context: Phlebotomy services are a common target for preanalytic improvements. Many new, quality engineering tools have recently been applied in clinical laboratories. However, data on relatively few projects have been published. This example describes a complete application of current, quality engineering tools to improve preanalytic phlebotomy services. Objectives.-To decrease the response time in the preanalytic inpatient laboratory by 25%, to reduce the number of incident reports related to preanalytic phlebotomy, and to make systematic process changes that satisfied the stakeholders. Design: The Department of Laboratory Medicine, General Services Section, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) is responsible for inpatient phlebotomy in a 24-hour operation, which serves 689 inpatient beds. The study director was project director of the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine's Quality Improvement Section and was assisted by 2 quality technologists and an industrial engineer from MD Anderson Office of Performance Improvement. Results: After implementing each solution, using wellrecognized, quality tools and metrics, the response time for blood collection decreased by 23%, which was close to meeting the original responsiveness goal of 25%. The response time between collection and arrival in the laboratory decreased by 8%. Applicable laboratory-related incident reports were reduced by 43%. Conclusions: Comprehensive application of quality tools, such as statistical control charts, Pareto diagrams, value-stream maps, process failure modes and effects analyses, fishbone diagrams, solution prioritization matrices, and customer satisfaction surveys can significantly improve preset goals for inpatient phlebotomy.
AB - Context: Phlebotomy services are a common target for preanalytic improvements. Many new, quality engineering tools have recently been applied in clinical laboratories. However, data on relatively few projects have been published. This example describes a complete application of current, quality engineering tools to improve preanalytic phlebotomy services. Objectives.-To decrease the response time in the preanalytic inpatient laboratory by 25%, to reduce the number of incident reports related to preanalytic phlebotomy, and to make systematic process changes that satisfied the stakeholders. Design: The Department of Laboratory Medicine, General Services Section, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) is responsible for inpatient phlebotomy in a 24-hour operation, which serves 689 inpatient beds. The study director was project director of the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine's Quality Improvement Section and was assisted by 2 quality technologists and an industrial engineer from MD Anderson Office of Performance Improvement. Results: After implementing each solution, using wellrecognized, quality tools and metrics, the response time for blood collection decreased by 23%, which was close to meeting the original responsiveness goal of 25%. The response time between collection and arrival in the laboratory decreased by 8%. Applicable laboratory-related incident reports were reduced by 43%. Conclusions: Comprehensive application of quality tools, such as statistical control charts, Pareto diagrams, value-stream maps, process failure modes and effects analyses, fishbone diagrams, solution prioritization matrices, and customer satisfaction surveys can significantly improve preset goals for inpatient phlebotomy.
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U2 - 10.5858/arpa.2012-0458-OA
DO - 10.5858/arpa.2012-0458-OA
M3 - Article
C2 - 24283855
AN - SCOPUS:84892719195
SN - 0003-9985
VL - 137
SP - 1753
EP - 1760
JO - Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
JF - Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
IS - 12
ER -