[Histonet] Productivity Tracking

[Jay Lundgren]

By the way, the standard for graduation from AFIP was 30 blocks/hr.

Don't count blocks, count *slides*.

If you have people slacking, you really need to start action to get rid of
them.  One rotten apple ruins the whole bunch.  Google the new research on
toxic personalities in the workplace.

But if you want to try to bring them up to speed, try this: (Assuming one
processing run, but the principle still applies.)

1)Someone takes the day's worksheet, and counts the number of slides to be
cut, including recuts, special stains, IHC's and everything.   So,
according to your protocol, (numbers made up for example) 1 GI block=3
slides, an IHC panel= 10 slides, a routine tonsil block=1 slide, a bone
marrow block, with specials and unstained slides=20 slides

2)Divide the number of slides to be cut by the number of cutters.

3)Distribute the blocks equally based on number of *slides *to be cut per
tech.  Now obviously, you're going to want to give your biopsies, recuts,
specials and IHCs to your quickest cutters, and on down the line, in order
of priority, to the slower cutters.  If you only have 2 cutters, one person
is going to cut all the bxs and specials and a few routines, and the other
person will cut the bulk of the routines.

This daily routine achieves 3 things.

 1) It keeps the slower cutters from slowing down your more critical
workflow.
 2) It removes any benefit from slacking, because it attempts to ensure
that everyone is doing the same amount of work, at least as far as cutting
goes.
3) Most importantly, it identifies and isolates anyone who is cutting
slower, because they will still be sitting there cutting while everyone
else is done.

While this might seem cruel, most humans are very group oriented.  If the
slower cutters are experienced cutter who are sandbagging, they will
usually pick up their pace.

If someone is inexperienced and trying to get faster, that's OK, and you
can focus on trying to help them get faster.

A very small minority of people might be happy to sit there and cut their
routines as slowly as possible, and you have to decide whether or not to
start the process of getting rid of people like that. At least dividing the
cutting like this avoids them slowing down your workflow too much.

You can carrot and stick this however you want.  I see you are a histology
supervisor, so I'm assuming it's actually stick/stick. (j/k :))  Maybe not
let anyone go to lunch until all the cutting is done?  Let the fastest
cutters leave 30 min early on a Friday? Send a clear message that it's not
OK just to slack, you want everyone working to their potential.







On Fri, Jul 5, 2019 at 12:59 PM WILLIAM DESALVO via Histonet <
histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote:

> I suggest you use slides created for the microtomy minimum standard. Not
> all blocks are created equal. A good target is 30 slides per hour, for
> mixed specimens. If all specialty, then adjust from the 30.
>
> William DeSalvo
> ________________________________
> From: Pairan, Kelly via Histonet <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
> Sent: Friday, July 5, 2019 8:41:28 AM
> To: histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: [Histonet] Productivity Tracking
>
> Good Morning Histoland,
> How are you tracking your histotechs productivity when it comes to
> cutting?  We recently have implemented a 25 block per hour goal for all of
> our histotechs and are receiving some push back.  I made 25 block per hour
> the goal based on the following article that has been circulating for many
> years (
> https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41942535_Productivity_standards_for_histology_laboratories).
> While I do not want to compromise quality, we do have turnaround times to
> meet and I have experienced techs who are cutting less than 20 blocks per
> hour.  I understand that some tissues and protocols take longer so this is
> an average not something that has to be hit every shift.
>
> Thanks,
> Kelly
>
> Kelly Pairan,  HT (ASCP)CM, QIHC (ASCP)
> Histology Supervisor-Anatomic Pathology
> Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
> Email:  kelly.pairan at nationwidechildrens.org
> ph: 614-722-5414
> fx: 614-722-3033
>
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