FEATURED TEAM: Laboratory, Anaheim Medical Center

Doing blood work in time for morning rounds

RESULTS:

Between August and November 2010, blood work

was processed by 9 a.m. 93 percent of the time,

up 20 points from when the project started in February 2010.

WHAT THEY DO:

To speed up the processing of blood draws:

Read more about the teams work and other successful practices on the Labor Management website, www.LMPartnership.org.

• Lab assistants pick up blood specimens on the 6th and 7th floors

of the hospital at 6 a.m., rather than having a runner deliver them.

• Lab assistants drop off specimens every half-hour throughout the

day, instead of a runner delivering them.

• Clinical lab scientists from other lab department help process

blood in the morning.

• Clinical lab scientists start work at 6 a.m. instead of

9 a.m. on the weekends.