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technology is improving lab efficiency , the lab work environment and ultimately , outcomes ,” said Kristie Campbell , administrative laboratory director at Huntsville Hospital , one of Alabama ’ s largest healthcare providers . “ Labs need standardization that benefits the team , the organization and the patients and communities we serve .”
Noting some of the factors that impact a lab team ’ s openness to embracing new technologies — staff personalities , depth of lab experience and history with lab processes — she added , “ Standardization in a system is easy to talk about and very hard to do in the real world .”
The roundtable also discussed the need and search for resources to assist laboratorians with test processing and inventory tracking .
“ The things that can be automated , have to be ,” said Brice Bruno , system vice president of laboratory and pathology services at Wellstar , Georgia ’ s largest healthcare system with more than 400 locations . “ We need to look at lab automation for efficiency — not to reduce FTEs , but to allow our people to do more things they need to be ‘ hands-on ’ with … for whatever type of testing .”
Michelle Bridges of Florida-based AdventHealth , a system with locations in nine states , agreed . Bridges , senior modality program manager , laboratory system ancillary services , said ,
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A rapidly growing presence in the U . S . lab market , Medline partners with clinical labs across the healthcare continuum to improve clinical and supply chain performance : acute and urgent care , physician office , reference labs , higher education , life sciences and government .
“ Everything these days has a foundation in information technology . If you ’ re not engaged in the IT conversation and actively pursuing it , you ’ re going to fall behind .”
“ Assimilating technology into lab requires some internal planning ,” said Jon Pruitt , senior vice president of supply chain , Community Hospital Corporation in Texas .
Focused on helping community hospitals improve efficiency , quality and financial stability , he describes the need to prepare to be successful .
“ You must get your arms around a data collection process that provides clean , quality data in order to integrate artificial intelligence , machine learn-
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ing and other technologies more accurately .”
Communicating the Value of Lab The pandemic elevated the role of lab , but leaders say they ’ re competing for limited resources , now more than ever . That , plus the current environment of lab and health system acquisitions and consolidations , means they ’ re highly focused on communicating the value of lab .
Jane Hermansen , a former president of the Clinical Laboratory Management Association , said , “ System leaders not only need to understand what ’ s happening clinically in the lab , they need to see labs as the ‘ revenue ’ centers they are or can be — versus ‘ cost ’ centers .”
In promoting lab value , Hermansen suggested that leaders highlight and share data to demonstrate the difference lab makes in key areas : how positive patient lab experiences help improve HCAHPS scores ; how labs , at relatively low cost , influence patient decisions to pursue procedures and care ; and how labs help systems drive revenue and manage cost .
“ The things that can be automated , have to be .”
— Brice Bruno , System Vice President of Laboratory and
Pathology Services at Wellstar
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“ Lab professionals are not afraid to try new things — that was evident in roundtable conversations .”
— Michelle Bridges Senior Modality Program
Manager , Laboratory System Ancillary Services
AdventHealth , Florida
Emerging Priorities in the Lab Leaders are exploring and embracing innovations in many areas of lab operations .
“ We ’ re all moving in a similar direction , but we ’ re moving at a different pace based on priorities in our geographical locations and the patients that we serve ,” said Wellstar ’ s Bruno .
All of us in lab are working on some very important things that are going to take lab science to the next level ,” said Bridges . “ Lab professionals are not afraid to try new things , and that was evident through the roundtable conversations .”
• Incorporating digital pathology Digital pathology offers many advantages . Attendees like how it speeds the process of sending cases out for review and gives pathologists more time for patient consultations . It ’ s also attracting a new type of pathologist , one drawn to next-gen technology . Challenges to overcome include the high
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