Title: The cost-effective small size laboratory: Preserving laboratory test quality with a limited amount of space

Biography:

Sandra L Aponte is Anatomic Pathology Boards (1993), Clinical pathology Boards (1993) and Cytopathology Added Qualification (1995), certified by the American Board of Pathology. She has completed pathology residency at Beth Israel Medical Center and Mount Sinai in NYC. She is having twenty plus years of experience and nine years hospital based experience. Six Sigma Certificate from Quest Diagnostics. Completed Masters in Business Administration at the New York Institute of Technology (May 2007). HAPO dissipated in radio shows for the College of American pathologists. Proficient at preparing physician’s own (POL) laboratories for CLIA and CAP inspections. Currently join Medipath LLC team to expand laboratory in Miami Florida, USA.

Abstract

To preserve test quality while increasing volume in a small facility. With the increase in the United States real estate values, and decrease in buildings size due to the limited available land, with decrease payments from insurance companies and with the government pressure through many complex venues to produce and maintain quality for medical patient testing, building small space laboratories is a unique strategy. Large specialty groups benefit with the construction or acquisition of small size pathology testing laboratories that will cater to their unique patient population. The objective is to build small, utilizing distinctive approaches in order to maintain the highest quality, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, cost-effectiveness, low turnaround time, and increase productivity while reducing errors.  The steps require careful planning, budget evaluation and smart financial decisions, organizational skills, leadership and directorship skills while maintaining team concert efforts. User friendly laboratory information system and information technology systems are the crucial backbone to maintain a smooth operation and connectivity.
Methods:  Decisions are based on years of experience building portions of or complete medical laboratories. Needed quality measures include: total quality management, quality control, quality assurance, enrollment in proficiency testing, and acquisition of size appropriate highly productive state-of art quality instruments. Financial processes must include: instrument cost/benefit analysis, productivity per square footage against lease costs per sq foot, clinicians’ test menu limitation.
Conclusion: Multispecialty large groups will benefit in multiple ways when building small cost-effective laboratories to accommodate their unique variety of patients.