Four Ways to Create an Efficient and Productive Diagnostic Lab

When you are providing medical professionals with results from their patients' bloodwork, cell samples, and other important tests, you will need to be as productive, accurate, and timely as possible.  This requires your laboratory practices to be on point and your workspace to have optimal flow.  Without a logical workflow, your laboratory staff will have difficulty performing their daily tasks without distractions or interruptions.  As a laboratory that works with dermatopathology in Pittsburgh, PA, our employees are always striving to be more productive and produce the best results for our clients. There are four ways you can create an efficient and productive medical diagnostic laboratory environment.

Map Out Common Processes

First, you want to create a map of your laboratory.  This should contain the entire contents of your lab.  Once you have a diagram of your lab, you will want to create multiple workflow charts that map out common lab processes.  Use arrows indicating the different steps involved in each process.  This will help you to visualize the areas that your staff needs to be in order to successfully complete these jobs.  It will also make you consider the spacing and logistics between each step, which will help inform you on any changes that need to be made in order to create a more efficient work space.

Remove Obstacles

Once you map out common processes, you can easily notice any obstacles that may be hindering efficiency.  After identifying these obstacles, you can then focus on removing them.  This may requires you to remodel or move around lab equipment in order to maximize your workflow. Consulting with a laboratory buildout company on how to best rearrange your lab can help you to maximize your space and reduce the headache it can cause you to consider the many possibilities on your own.

Standardize Processes

Most laboratories require standard processes and procedures.  Once standardization is achieved, employees can then become trained and educated on how these processes work within your laboratory.  They can then learn and conform to those practices, which make your laboratory work reliable and trustworthy.  By creating work instructions for common practices, your lab will also increase its efficiency and reduce errors.

Automate Processes

In order to curb costs and cut testing time, many laboratories automate their processes.  This helps to increase revenue by streamlining common diagnostic testing.  It also helps to create more accurate and precise details in the process, which in turn provides physicians and clients with the best results possible.  Automation introduces proper methods and technology while giving lab technicians the training they need to track accurate results and reports to the clients.

By using these four strategies, you will be able to optimize the workflow in your laboratory, which will provide more accurate and efficient testing.  As a lab specializing in dermatopathology in Pittsburgh, PA, we use efficient strategies to create a workflow that helps us get the best, most accurate and timely test results.  Contact us today to hear about how you can benefit from our efficient lab services.