Clinical leadership & management review : the journal of CLMA最新文献

With goals of improving patient safety, decreasing length of patient stay, and reducing overall costs, Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA, developed a series of new blood management guidelines. We aimed to develop standard procedures and protocols for blood transfusions and assess all adverse outcomes while seeking process improvements to decrease the risk of transfusion. Since 2005, overall red blood cell use has significantly decreased across all three of our hospital campuses. Improvements in cardiac services and elective orthopedic surgeries have been particularly significant. This manuscript details the changes we instituted and the important considerations for other facilities considering a similar change in protocol.

Laboratories entering into a discussion regarding automation of their facility have a number of key issues that need to be considered right away. What is the financial impact going to be? How do we know which processes we should automate and which ones we shouldn't? Which vendor is going to best align with the goals of our organization? Developing a thorough and robust plan at the start of the automation process is vital to the overall success of the project. It requires dedicated staff members who are willing to do the research, crunch the numbers, and present the data effectively. In Part II of this manuscript, issues such as cost analyses, business plans, and purchasing decisions are each covered thoroughly.

This article proposes a solution to the perennial problem of talent retention in the clinical laboratory. It includes the presentation of 12 strategies that may be used to significantly improve institutional identity formation and establishment of the psychological contract that employees form with laboratory management. Identity formation and psychological contracting are deemed as essential in helping reduce employee turnover and increase retention. The 12 conversational strategies may be used as a set of best practices for all employees, but most importantly for new employees, and should be implemented at the critical moment when employees first join the laboratory. This time is referred to as "retention on-boarding"--the period of induction and laboratory orientation. Retention on-boarding involves a dialogue between employees and management that is focused on the psychological, practical, cultural, and political dimensions of the laboratory. It is placed in the context of the modern clinical laboratory, which is faced with employing and managing Generation X knowledge workers. Specific topics and broad content areas of those conversations are outlined.

Recruiting graduates of medical laboratory science programs remains an ongoing challenge for every clinical laboratory manager. Published studies report that 44 percent of all laboratories have difficulties recruiting or hiring medical laboratory professionals. This article explores the specific factors that influenced recent Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) graduates' decisions to accept or reject employment at particular laboratory sites. While compensation is a factor, this study found that successful recruitment of new graduates relies heavily on other incentives. Laboratories that want to be competitive in attracting the scarcity of new employees must be willing to invest considerable time in training MLS students during clinical rotations and be able to offer comprehensive benefits packages. Hospital-based laboratories, perhaps more than other types of laboratories, need to become more involved in the clinical rotation process.

Automation in the clinical laboratory does not have a long history, but its importance in the short-term evolution of testing cannot be overstated. To date, automation has primarily been limited to large hospital laboratories, although small- and medium-sized facilities are beginning to weigh the advantages of automated systems to help them solve problems caused by employee shortages and rising costs. In this first of a four-part series, we'll detail the history of automation and provide background on specific areas where automated systems are currently being used most prevalently.