Applying Methods of Process Improvement to Improve Productivity

Applying Methods of Process Improvement to Improve Productivity

Consider the following scenario: Terry is a senior histology lab technician at a large urban hospital. He is responsible for overseeing a team of six junior technicians to process samples for testing. Recently, the hospital has introduced a new process whereby the senior histology lab technician must visually accept and approve the findings of the junior technicians in order for samples to be cleared and entered into the electronic health record for disease diagnosis. Terry has been able to meet this new need for the past few months. However, as more cases are entering the histology lab, cases have started to become backlogged. Additionally, the histology lab hours are restricted to business hours; this has severely impacted the processing of histology samples. Terry is worried that the approval process is not efficient and that perhaps a second senior histology lab technician should be hired to meet around-the-clock demand.

As a current or future health care administrator, how might you address the productivity lag in the histology lab in the scenario?

To address the productivity lag, the healthcare administrator must facilitate a flexible workflow process that is capable of ensuring that a smooth operation is conducted throughout the entire healthcare organization. The first question to ascertain by the healthcare administrator is whether the current process at the organization is in accordance with the healthcare needs and operational functions within the healthcare organization. There are several workflow processes that need to be understood, which require continuous information flows wherein the healthcare administrator needs to determine how the ...

Solution Summary

Process improvement to improve productivity is determined. Senior histology lab technicians are examined.

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