Organization & Supervision

1. Organization & Supervision

2. Daily Work Schedules General Consideration: • A work schedule must make the maximum use of the human recourses available and at the same time be fair and equitable to the employees. • The supervisor must determine how many staff technologists are needed each day, including weekends. This requires knowledge of workflow patterns and volume variations from day to day. • Each employee should be scheduled to work 5 days only during the work week to avoid costly overtime. • Schedules should be prepared in blocks of time, rather than week by week, assuring fair rotation of weekend duties.

3. General Consideration: (cont.) • Part-time employees can provide additional personnel on weekends and can cover full-time employees regularly scheduled days off. • Vacation scheduling must also be considered. • Once the schedule has been prepared, it should be presented to and discussed with the employees. • The schedule should be designed for a minimum of a month and must be posted on the section bulletin board. • No schedule should be ever be considered permanent, flexibility and responsiveness to changing needs are essential.

4. WORKLOAD MEASUREMENTS AND PERSONAL REQUIRMENTS The measurements of workload will enable the clinical lab supervisor to assess the current level of productivity, determine the number of employees necessary to provide adequate patient service, and to determine the rate of growth in order to predict future needs for personnel. A careful examination of workload statistics supplies many types of information. Some uses of workload statistics: • Comparison of workload for work-shifts-staffing needs • Comparison of day to day workload tallies-number of employees necessary to staff weekends. • Comparison of monthly workload-schedule vacations. • Scrutinization of workload tallies can assist in identifying workflow problems. • Development of the budget for future personnel requirements as well as possible instrumentation needs.

5. Workload Measurements Methods 1-Basic Measurement: The simplest and most basic method is to tally the number of patient tests performed each day.

6. 2- The CAP Workload Recording Method: A more comprehensive system for workload measurements has been developed by the Laboratory Management Planning Committee of the Collage of American Pathologist (CAP). No lab should be without a current annual edition. The manual include complete instructions for using the system, test listings arranged alphabetically and numerically, and each procedure is assigned a code number. The basis for measuring workload is the unit value, or weight, assigned to each procedure. One unit is equal to 1 minute. The total unit value for each procedure represents the average technical, clerical, and aide time necessary to perform the procedure. Thus, a procedure with a unit value of 10 would take 10 minutes to perform.

7. Included in the unit value is the time needed for: • Specimen processing. • Testing. • Clerical time, including logging and recording results. • Glassware washing. • Reagent preparation. • Preparation and reading of blanks, • Daily instrument calibration, • Maintenance and repair, • Technical supervision. Not include in the unit value measurements are: • Specimen collection, • Quality control, • Standards, • Repeats. Repeats should be counted only if it is necessary to perform (elevated results) For the CAP workload recording method, a clear distinction must be made between repeat and duplicate.

8. Shift:___________ Month:___________ Year:___________ Procedure name:_________________ Raw counts are entered on the worksheet daily , to be totaled at the end of each month. The sum of patient tests, standards, quality control, and repeats represents the total raw count. The raw count multiplied by the unit value for the procedure equals the workload in minutes. The sum of the workloads for the section equals the total workload in minutes. Workload recording sheet

11. Total workload (in minutes) = Productivity Man Hours Productivity Total workload related to man-hours in the standard measure of productivity. The formula is Tow different measures of productivity can be determined, the first is based on hours worked, the second on hours paid. Productivity based on hours worked represents the time spent performing the work, while productivity based on hours paid reflects the total fiscal burden of the clinical laboratory for personnel. (Table 2-4)

12. Factors Affecting Productivity and Personnel Requirements: Changes in volume Test mix Patient population