[Histonet] Wage and Productivity

[Janice Mahoney]

I have to add my two LEAN cents worth.
It is quite simple to learn your "throughput time" when you have a LEAN
lab.  When you have all the unnecessary waste removed from you processes
you can calculate the number of slides your lab can produce in any given
time frame with any number of techs.  So, if you are down two techs for
a day, you will know what your slide output will be.  If you know what
your volume of blocks is for any given day, you will be able to
calculate when the cutting should be complete.
LEAN provides  the perfect staffing, productivity and TAT tools.
I admit,  I am biased.  
To learn more about how you can LEAN you lab there are many web sites
and  Histology workshops.  Goggle LEAN and Laboratory and Histology.
Have fun and Happy New Year.
Jan,
Omaha NE

>>> Cheryl <tkngflght <@t> yahoo.com> 12/29/2006 9:18 AM >>>
Hi Tom-
   
  We staff traveling histologist (up to 50 on the road at a time) and I
travel as a temp.  What the others say about taking samples and
averaging the times of your techs is germaine.  I travel to different
labs (over 40 labs in 25 years and counting) and I can cut anywhere
between 25 and 75 blocks per hour depending on processing, tissue,
protocols, instrumentation and automation.  
   
  The goal on collecting these averages be an acceptable range of time
to accommodate all tissue types/cutting protocols and tech skills.  The
idea behind averaging is to get a benchmark (metric) on how to manage
workloads, not to push techs to cut more and faster.  That's when you
start to get mistakes and repetitive motion injuries....not to mention
unhappy campers who will start to look for new employment. 
   
  If you have a chance to go to other labs, often you can learn little
tricks to pick up efficiency without compromising the quality or pushing
past your tech's abilities. Each lab is different--not everything works
in every lab.  It can be fun to try each different idea to see what does
work for your lab.
   
  Hope this helps!
   
  Cheryl   


Cheryl Kerry, HT(ASCP) 
Full Staff Inc. 
Staffing the AP Lab by helping one Tech at a time. 
281.883.7704 c 
281.852.9457 o 
admin <@t> fullstaff.org 

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