A reference laboratory operated over fifty labs across the U.S. and wanted assistance identifying a tool to enable them to increase margins through growth.
The goal was to establish a system to monitor volumes and establish labor standards across like-laboratories while expanding services either organically or through acquisition. Leadership wanted to assess the current state of their laboratories including testing capacity based on type and size, taking into consideration both equipment and staffing.
An expert team conducted interviews with lab leadership and other key stakeholders, collected data, and performed onsite observation to obtain descriptive information about several representative testing sites. After observing workflows, identifying current volumes of testing performed, and collecting current staffing levels, a Capacity Analysis Model (CAM) was created and applied.
Current turnaround time (TAT) and other key performance indicator (KPI) goals and performance were also an important counter-measure. The CAM then serves as a standard productivity system which identifies current utilization vs. capacity.
Outputs can be bucketed as low, medium, or high in comparison to peers to assist with planning future operations. This presentation will review the approach to the CAM as well as blinded example findings from one organization. The concepts are applicable to many industries and organizations.
Bio: Katie Benyo is a Client Account Lead in Lab Advisory Services at Accumen. There she and her team of tenured lab experts assess the performance of hospital and commercial laboratories.
Katie holds a Master’s degree in Health Administration from Saint Louis University, is a NAHQ-Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), an ASQ-Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer through AHRQ, and holds a Certificate in Laboratory Quality Management Systems from CLSI.