Improved Throughput in the Laboratory

The Problem

The results of blood tests are crucial to physician decision making. At St. Luke's, physicians expect to have lab test results available for morning rounds as early as 6 am. However, the phlebotomy team was regularly challenged to complete the early morning collection of blood specimens in a timely manner.

The Solution

Led by the laboratory's Lean coordinators and supported by Dean Bliss, the members of the phlebotomy team applied Lean tools to analyze their current processes from the time the specimen is collected until the time the result is available. This provided the insight to develop more efficient processes that also improved patient safety. Rather than having eight phlebotomists working floors independently across 15 different patient care areas, six phlebotomists and a leader 'swarm' one floor at a time to collect specimens as a team. For even greater efficiency and to eliminate labeling errors, phlebotomists now use 'one-piece flow,' with one patient's specimens collected, labeled, and sent to the lab at a time. This practice levels out the workflow of specimens to the lab and has helped reduce the bottlenecks that arose from batching the specimens.