Abstract

A new intellectual product named Lean Enablers for Clinical Laboratories (LEfCL) is described. It is a collection of 136 best practices for clinical laboratory operations, containing collective wisdom on how to practice laboratory management, focusing on simultaneous improvements in test quality, productivity, laboratory capacity and stakeholder satisfaction, and reductions of test turnaround time and cost. The methodology follows an awarded method established in Systems Engineering and represents an extension of that engineering knowledge into clinical practice. The product has been developed by experienced directors from Kaiser Permanente regional clinical laboratory while pursuing a graduate Certificate in Lean Healthcare at Loyola Marymount University. LEfCL are organized into six well-known Lean Principles: Value, Value Stream Mapping, Flow, Pull, Perfection and Respect. The paper also identifies 46 Challenges that prevent success. Results of Lean improvements measured over the period of 2014-2016 are quoted for five laboratories. The LEfCL are not intended to become a mandatory practice. Instead, they should be used as a checklist of good practices. LEfCL are formulated as a comprehensive set of practices, intended for future training of new hires and as reference material. As such, they include both basic and advanced practices.

Keywords: Lean; Lean enablers; Clinical laboratories; Process improvement; Streamlining