Printed from acutecaretesting.org
Articles and journal scans about Process optimization
Article
May 2007
How to reduce analyzer downtime and improve processes
Technology is available worldwide to help us carry out
diversified tasks and work in an easier, faster, and more efficient
way.
Furthermore, technology can help us prevent analyzer downtime
and failures that may have serious consequences for both business
and patients. This article gives an overview of some of the...
Process optimization
Quality assurance
Journal Scan
March 2007
Critical values for sodium estimation
Clinical laboratories should have a policy mandating staff
involved in analysis of patient samples to convey critical results
to clinical staff urgently, usually by telephone. A critical result
has been defined as a result "at such variance with normal as
to be life threatening, unless something is done promptly, and...
Process optimization
Electrolytes
Article
March 2007
Century City Doctors Hospital: Is paperless possible? (English)
Century City Doctors Hospital (CCDH) is a Los Angeles, California-based acute care medical center that is one of the largest physician-owned and -operated hospitals in the United States. The 178-bed facility was designed and built to be fully digital, paperless, and state-of-the-art, with integrated information...
Information management
Process optimization
Article
January 2007
Can barcoded wristbands improve patient safety
In the majority of U.S. healthcare institutions, patient wristbands do not contain barcodes, creating a situation where patient data is manually typed into a database or point-of-care device, leaving plenty of room for error.
In light of error statistics issued by the United Kingdom’s National Patient Safety Agency...
Process optimization
Information management
Preanalytical phase
Glucose
Article
January 2007
What does “lean” have to do with patient safety?
Ever since the landmark document “To err is human” [1]
was released, patient safety has been the paramount objective in US
hospitals. “Patient safety” became the catch phrase and focus for
all activities; a trend that was rapidly taken up by the rest of
the world’s hospitals. Suddenly a new catch phrase – “lean” –
...
Process optimization
Point-of-care testing
Article
October 2006
Kaizen – lean in a week
How to implement improvements in hospital settings within a
week
Jens Weirsøe is one of Radiometer's most experienced
Master Black Belts in Transactional Process Improvements (TPI or
kaizen). He has facilitated 90 kaizen events in several countries
(USA, Japan, Germany and Denmark), in several different industry...
Point-of-care testing
Process optimization
Article
October 2005
Patient safety: tested tools for error reduction
Laboratorians need to take ownership of errors,
identifying, analyzing and reducing them, thereby increasing
patient safety.
A Client Services Department, customer care
representatives, a service improvement coordinator, “morning
report”, electronic error tracking and reporting mechanisms,
point-of-care support...
Point-of-care testing
Information management
Process optimization
Glucose
D-dimer
Article
May 2005
Patient safety: Find the error behind the error
Lately, everybody seems to be talking about reducing
testing errors and improving patient safety. But where do you
begin?
The answer may be to look beyond the error itself and
instead focus on what is causing it. Michael Astion, Associate
Professor, Director of the University of Washington’s Reference
Laboratory...
Information management
Point-of-care testing
Process optimization
Article
April 2005
Make document management user-friendly
In 1998, Fleury Diagnostics, Brazil's most comprehensive center for diagnostic medicine and pathology with 1,600 employees and 2,500 patients a day, implemented its own system for managing documents necessary for certification and point-of-care testing (POCT) programs. The system was entirely developed in-house in the ...
Process optimization
Information management
Article
April 2005
Specimen mislabeling: A significant and costly cause of potentially serious medical errors
Preanalytical errors are a significant source of medical
errors that can jeopardize patient safety. Proper specimen labeling
practices are critical components of effective and accurate patient
identification.
These variables are now considered part of the
preexamination process in the newest CLSI quality system...
Process optimization
Preanalytical phase