Hospital Operations: Principles of High Efficiency Health Care

5. Diagnostic Services

Coauthored with Jeffrey Myers, MD

5.1. Stakeholders’ Perspectives

Monday March 22, 2010, 4:40 p.m.

Four vials of blood accompanied by a requisition form for Mrs. Sally Oldham were delivered to the specimen receiving window of the University Hospital clinical chemistry lab by a phlebotomist. A few minutes later, Francine Watts, an accessioner, picked up Sally’s sample, along with several others, and returned to her workstation. Noting that Sally’s form was marked “stat,” she added it to the sizeable priority pile already on her table and resumed her work of sorting submissions. The lab was backed up because it was a busy afternoon in the hospital, they had received several large deliveries of specimens from outside the hospital, ...