Journal:Timely delivery of laboratory efficiency information, Part II: Assessing the impact of a turnaround time dashboard at a high-volume laboratory
| Full article title | Timely delivery of laboratory efficiency information, Part II: Assessing the impact of a turnaround time dashboard at a high-volume laboratory |
|---|---|
| Journal | African Journal of Laboratory Medicine |
| Author(s) | Cassim, Naseem; Coetzee, Lindi M.; Tepper, Manfred E.; Perelson, Louella; Glencross, Deborah K. |
| Author affiliation(s) | National Health Laboratory Service, University of the Witwatersrand |
| Primary contact | Email: naseem dot cassim at wits dot ac dot za |
| Year published | 2020 |
| Volume and issue | 9(2) |
| Article # | a948 |
| DOI | 10.4102/ajlm.v9i2.948 |
| ISSN | 2225-2010 |
| Distribution license | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License |
| Website | https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/948/1475 |
| Download | https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/download/948/1473 (PDF) |
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This article should be considered a work in progress and incomplete. Consider this article incomplete until this notice is removed. |
Abstract
Background: In South Africa’s National Health Laboratory Service, ad hoc mean turnaround time (TAT) reporting is an important indicator of performance. However, historic static TAT reporting did not assess very long or very short times. An interactive TAT dashboard was developed using the following TAT measures: (1) median, (2) 75th percentile, and (3) percentage of within cut-off TAT to allow for improved differentiation of TAT performance.
Objectives: The objective of our study was to demonstrate increased efficiency achieved by using an interactive TAT dashboard.
Methods: A retrospective descriptive study design was used. Creatinine TAT outcomes were reported over 122 weeks from a high-volume laboratory in Gauteng, South Africa. The percentage of within cut-off and 75th percentile TAT were analyzed and reported using Microsoft Excel. A focus group session was used to populate a cause and effect diagram.
Results: The percentage of within cut-off TAT increased from 10% in week four to 90% and higher from week 81. The 75th percentile decreased from 10 hours in week four to under five hours from week 71. Component TAT analysis revealed that the 75th percentile testing was five hours or longer for weeks four, five and 48. The 75th percentile review TAT ranged from one hour to 15 hours. From week 41, the review TAT was under one hour.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the use of an interactive TAT dashboard, coupled with good management, can dramatically improve TAT and efficiency in a high-volume laboratory.
Keywords: turnaround time, laboratory efficiency, pathology, laboratory medicine
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This presentation is faithful to the original, with only a few minor changes to presentation. Grammar was cleaned up for smoother reading. In some cases important information was missing from the references, and that information was added.
