Finals (Current Trends in Laboratory Management)

                                                                     

Current Trends in Laboratory Management

Over the past 20 years, clinical laboratory in vitro diagnostics (IVD) has seen significant advances due in part to enhanced computer technology. The days of manually completing laboratory tests has fortunately been replaced with compact, highly precise instrumentation that offers fast throughput. Most instruments interface with a robust laboratory information system (LIS) that provides a platform to record data, preserve it, and report it in a timely and accurate manner.

3 levels of Change management:

• Individual change management
• Organizational/Initiative change management
• Enterprise change management

Advancement of technology has helped the laboratory system a lot. Not only it can reduced the time consumed by the staff, but it can also make the work easier and faster. Through automation, it offers better use of staff, decrease need for redundant equipment, and improve overall efficiency.  As new laboratories are built or old ones renovated, the open laboratory concept is generally adopted. In addition, environmental and ergonomic concerns are also addressed.

While there are many challenges facing today's clinical laboratory, there are also many rewards. The importance of the laboratory has gained recognition in its ability to contribute significantly to patient management. It is with this optimistic approach that laboratorians look forward to playing an even bigger part in healthcare and to be recognised for the skills we bring to the table. Advances in technology will continue to influence laboratory practices and how we educate our future laboratory scientists. By embracing these advances, we will be able to implement this technology into everyday practice, thus providing a higher level of patient care.

Finals (Principles of Marketing)

PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Marketing is a strategic process of attracting and maintaining a customer base. Many people incorrectly believe that marketing and advertising are one in the same. In reality, advertising is just one of many tools used in marketing, which is the process by which firms determine which products to offer, how to price those products, and to whom they should be made available. 

Of course, in a marketing, there should be a laboratory customer such as physician, patient, employer etc. Also, purchasing decision makers are divided into two:

• Captive users
• Discretionary buyers

It is also important to acknowledge the customer's expectations. The three segments involved are best total production, best total solution and best total costs. The strategy a marketing firm chooses for a particular product is vital to the success of the product.

In marketing, it is important to know the 4 P's:

"Behind every great company there is an exceptional marketing strategy in place. Every marketer has his/her own unique strategy but most marketing professionals agree on a few fundamental principles of marketing."

Finals (Financial Management)

Financial Management

It is a management of finances of business or organization in order to achieve financial objectives. It means planning, organizing, directing and controlling the financial activities such as procurement and utilization of funds of the enterprise. It key objectives are to create wealth for business, generate cash and provide return of investment.

Since this topic is important especially when you plan to manage a laboratory, although it is not quite related to the work of a medtech, still, it is important to know how manage your financial status in the laboratory. We need a budgeting process that composes of financial planning, financial control and financial decision-making.

There are 3 process to separate budgets during budgeting process:

• Operating budget
• Capital budget
• Cash budget

Forecast of expenditures:

- Effective budgeting: careful identification of all categories and most prudent allocation of funds for each laboratory

Financial controls- the finance manager has not only to plan, procure and utilize the funds but he also has to exercise control over finances.

One of the most important finance functions is to intelligently allocate capital to long term assets. This activity is also known as capital budgeting. It is important to allocate capital in those long term assets so as to get maximum yield in future. Following are the two aspects of investment decision.

Financial management helps setting clear goal, it also direct the efforts of all functional areas of business towards achieving the goal and facilitates among the functional areas of the firm. The importance of financial management is not limited to the managers who make decisions in the firm. Proper financial management will help firms to supply better product to its customers at lower prices, pay higher salary to its employees and still provide greater return to investors.

Midterms (Quality assurance)

Quality assurance is a planned actions needed to provide enough confidence that a product or service will satisfy the given requirements for quality. It assures the people that the processes, equipment and services are dependable and accurate. QA is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to the customers. 

It is important to assess the quality of services provided and to avoid making errors that would give an inaccurate results which could lead to a much higher risk of danger to the patients. Quality assessment and improvement is where it focuses on the success of the organization in designing and meeting set goals and objectives.

Types of Quality Control

• Internal quality control

This is where you monitor the day-to-day performance of the laboratory tests such as calibration of machines and other equipment

• External quality control

It monitors the accuracy of the laboratory tests. Example is the results of the patient's specimen that came outside the laboratory.

Preventive procedures is a pre-analytic activities towards proving accuracy. Examples are, training of lab staff, performance check, calibration of equipment; if the centrifuge is not functioning well, you should know what to do and and provide a solution to the problem. To avoid that, you should know the preventive procedures to ensure quality control. 

Assessment practices is an analytic activities that are done during the test to determine whether the systems are performing well. Examples are the use of standards and controls as well as a control chart.

Corrective practices is a post-analytic activities done after the analysis or test. If problems or troubleshooting occurs, you should provide corrective measures to solve the problem.

Control of tests should be:

Precise

 Accurate

 Sensitive 

Specific

“Quality begins on the inside… then works its way out.”                                  ~Bob Moawad

Midterms (Material management)

Material management is the systematic process of overseeing and controlling the acquisition and utilization of supplies to ensure cost effectiveness and availability. In a laboratory, it is important to know the financial status and the quality of every equipment in your laboratory. The choice of proper instrument is  important, because selecting a new equipment can help you improve the system in the lab. For ease operation, the longevity of the instrument and the time when equipment will show problems are part of the selection of proper instrument. 

Cost-effectiveness is also important, to pay the lowest possible prices, consistent with quality and value requirement for purchases materials. It is also important to maintain the integrity and quality of the equipment such as calibration and cleaning of the equipment. Repair is done after the failure of equipment occurs. For example, in a laboratory, if the centrifuge is not working, there should be an immediate replacement of that equipment or it could be repaired immediately. Same with the reagents, if one is expired, it should be replaced with another new reagent so maintenance and monitoring of the equipment is important.

Financial Control of Inventory

• Economic ordering quantity (EOQ)
• Economic ordering point (EOP)
• Optimal recorder time (ROT)

Inventory Management Methods

• Annual usage
• Average daily usage
• Cost of ordering
• Annual holding cost
• Cost per unit
• Lead time

EOQ= √2(annual usage in units)(order cost)

              annual carrying cost per unit

EOP= annual usage ⨉ lead time in days

                                 365 days

ROT= EOQ ⨉ 365 days

               annual usage

First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.                                                     ~ Aristotle 

Midterms (Personnel Management)

In personnel management, it starts with the recruiting and hiring of qualified people and continues with directing and encouraging their growth as they encounter problems. There should be a motivation for people to have reasons to do the things they do. Management includes work group wherein you should have a teamwork. Leadership strategies is also important, the responsibilities that a leader should do for the laboratory and for the people. Structural techniques such as technology and work space is also a part of personnel management.

In personnel selection process, this is a process of hiring individuals and this also has a requirements to collect information about an individual in order to determine if that individual should be employed. The criteria used to describe job positions are the following:

• Minimum education
• Licensure examination
• Experience
• Posting job vacancies
• Reception of applications
• Preliminary interview

The skills, academic and family background, competencies and interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview. The manager is the one who interviews an applicant. It is necessary to do the personnel selection process so that you'll know if the applicant is suitable and deserving for the job. It is not just a process of hiring but also to evaluate if the requirements meets the standards. 

   

"Great vision without great people is irrelevant."                       -Jim Collins

"Hire character. Train skill."

Prelims (Directing and supervising)

Clinical laboratory should be optimized to perform in carrying out the purpose of patient-care. It is essential to put into perspectives of directing and supervising as tools of implementing laboratory services effectively. Directing involves bringing about purposeful action toward some desired outcome; either self-initiated or aiming the organization’s course and objectives. Duties should not be limited in meeting patient healthcare solutions, but also to consider patient and staff safety.

In the principles of leadership, it's involve in:

• Managerial grid
• Pygmalion effect
• Situational leadership
• Contingency theory
• Normative theory

As for supervising, managers are expected to lead their employees to meet organizational goals through motivation. They should supervise their staffs and teach them on how to do the tasks given to them. They should motivate their employee to work hard and a manager should be a good model to influence their staffs and make them see what a real leader should do. They need to instruct them and they should be willing to help them do better in work. The extent of participation allowed in the decision-making is a part of leadership model.

 A good leader should have a good communication with others. Training new members and creating a productive work environment all depend on healthy lines of communication.

Through directing, managers not only tell the people in the organization as to what they should do, when they should do and how they should do, but also see that their instructions are implemented in proper perspective. 

Keep up your confidence level, and assure everyone that setbacks are natural and the important thing is to focus on the larger goal. As the leader, by staying calm and confident, you will help keep the team feeling the same. By proving your commitment to your role, you will not only earn the respect of your team, but will also gradually but firmly establish a desirable idea or attitude in a person's mind that same hardworking energy among your staff. It’s important to show your commitment not only to the work at hand, but also to your promises.

   

"A key to achieving success is to assemble a strong and stable management team."

Prelims (Management by objectives)

Management by objectives involves formulation, performance and assessment. It concentrates attention on the accomplishment of objectives through participation of all concerned persons, that is, through team spirit. MBO is based on the assumption that people perform better when they know what is expected of them and can relate their personal goals to organizational objectives. There are characteristics of MBO such as, be a person-specific, have a designated time frame, be measurable and follow well-thought plans and long term goals.

Management by objectives refers to a formal set of procedures that begins with goal setting and continues through performance review. Managers and those they supervise act together to set common goals. Each person’s major responsibility are clearly defined in terms of measurable expected results or objectives, used by staff members in planning their work, and by both staff members and their managers for monitoring progress. 

There are different types of laboratory:

• Open laboratory
• Closed laboratory
• Reference laboratory
• POCT (Point of care testing) lab
• STAT laboratory
• Satellite

Proper collection, handling and processing of specimen are the principles of laboratory. Management by objectives requires an appropriate facilities and design which depend on its preparation, function and floor planning. Allocating space is also a part of MBO, the utilization, number of duties and testing workload.

Communication is the key factor in determining MBO's success or failure. The supervisor gives feedback and may authorize modifications to the objectives as circumstances dictate. Recognizing that objectives for MBO must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Specific) is essential to success.

"Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall."

— Stephen R. Covey

"Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish."

Prelims LabMan blog

LABORATORY MANAGEMENT

Management is an art and science that requires skills and it is a systemic body of knowledge. It directs group efforts. Managing a laboratory is not an easy task as well as to maintain its proper organization. Management skills are important for science careers of all types. Whether you work at the bench or away, the ability to organize your work and supervise those under you is critical. Laboratory Management is responsible for providing advice and information to scientists on health and safety, particularly on how to carry out risk assessments and on appropriate control measures. A further major function of Laboratory Management is the overseeing of shared equipment servicing, replacement and the purchase of new equipment to facilitate the needs of researchers.

It has many functions, one of them is planning wherein you attempt to anticipate the future. You are thinking of what would you do for the future. Planning is where you think and analyze. Next is organizing, knowing your tasks and able to organize everything accordingly. Directing and controlling is also a function of managing a laboratory. It is also important to know how the system works to be able to cope up with your environment in the laboratory. It is also important to know the roles of each member of the system. The roles of managers may be interpersonal, informational and decisional. 

To be a good manager, you should look for the personality style, if he/she is suitable and deserving to be a manager and a leader. A good manager should have an ambition, like planning and setting an objectives on how to improve the laboratory as well as their relationship with other members or staffs. Management requires skills such as financial management skills, technical skills and others. In planning, there are steps you should take, first is to determine your goals then collect information and evaluate current situation, establish time frame then set objectives. Forecast the needs and use of resources, determine steps necessary to implement goals and lastly, provide feedback mechanism.

There are different types of management planning:

• Strategic plan
• Tactical plan
• Contingency plan
• Operational plan

For organizing and staffing, you should have a primary task and that is to organize the clinical laboratory so that the staffs can work together to carry out the objectives of organization. There should be an input-process-output. For a system to be organized, it should have a purposeful activity, with hierarchy system and is self-regulating. There are principles of organizational structure and authority, this includes departmentalization, decentralization, unity of command and a scalar principle. 

In a clinical laboratory, it is also important to know the types of personnel needed. It may depend on technological and analytical complexity of the procedures being formed and testing volume or workload. In job scheduling, it depends on size and kind of institution, no. of patients served and services offered. The traditional work schedules, 8 or 80 hour rule which is 2 weeks span and a 40-hour rule.

For directing and supervising the laboratory, it involves leading and motivating people and influence people to work hard. For controlling, first step is to establish performance standard, measure actual performance, compare measured performance against established standards and take corrective actions.It monitors the activities, change plans for new development and resolves conflicts and taking corrective actions.

Laboratory management requires a technical background, so you have a common language and can earn the respect of your co-workers, but also requires significant interpersonal or people skills. While lab members need technical skills to complete individual experiments, it is the lab manager’s job to ensure that all experiments are aimed toward a common goal. Managing a laboratory is not an easy task to do, you should start from planning and setting your objectives, organize everything and determine what needs to be done then direct, lead and motivate people to do better and to work hard. Lastly, control and monitor all the activities done and change plans for new development of a better system.

"Being able to stand back and truly assess your effectiveness is hard, but it is the only way to make every day count.”