Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Everyone is Key

When change proves challenging, involving everyone in the process can be key. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington, Ill., encountered challenges while working to streamline lab workflow and redesign the lab's physical layout. The hospital began the project after surveys showed medical staff, though satisfied overall, were dissatisfied with lab turnaround times. Timely lab results are crucial for clinical staff making decisions about patient treatment and discharges. Involving everyone from the lab manager, phlebotomists, human resources staff, the director of quality and an outside consultant, Advocate Good Shepherd formed a team to examine every step of the lab process and get feedback from lab staff. Changes were incremental and included stationing phlebotomists on the hospital floor and redesigning the lab's physical layout. For the layout redesign, all lab staff tested a mock lab setup with cardboard cutouts and offered suggestions for improvement. By streamlining workflow and redesigning physical space, lab specimens are processed more quickly.