CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

CHAPTER 7: MEDICAL ECONOMICS AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENT 173
Then tests from this hospital system would be sent to a commercial reference
laboratory for those tests that were done at none of the hospitals in the system just
described. This could be due to low volume where it would not be cost-efficient to
buy equipment for and to retain a person with specialized training to perform only
a handful of a certain test per month or even per year. Another reason for sending
seldom-ordered tests to an outside laboratory would be a shortage of trained personnel
in the region available for performing certain tests. Some specialized tests
may require hundreds of thousands of dollars just to set up a section that is ready
to perform a certain laboratory test or tests. Some hospitals have data indicating
a breakeven point—they will assume the testing of specimens previously sent to a
reference laboratory when the volume of testing reaches a certain level.
Laboratory Management
In some laboratories, one person serves as both the laboratory manager and the
technical supervisor. In the larger laboratories these duties may be split among
two or more persons. The laboratory manager falls directly under the laboratory
director and may require additional business or management experience
along with education and training. The laboratory manager may provide most of
the business decisions by receiving requests from the various laboratory departments,
and purchases supplies and equipment from a variety of sources, based
on contractual requirements, availability, costs, efficiency, ease of use, and operation.
In the past, a laboratory manager who might also be called the “chief tech”
worked as a bench technologist and handled management issues as part of the job.
But in all except the smallest laboratories, these tasks are now handled by a manager
who is extremely well-versed in all of the operations of the entire laboratory.
In some extremely large laboratories, the department supervisors may handle
their own budgets for supplies and equipment, with oversight by the laboratory
manager. As the complexity of clinical laboratories continues to escalate, financial
management through wise management of resources, including human resources
within the laboratory, will undoubtedly receive more attention. Just as procedures
are evolving in number, complexity, and sophistication, the required functions of
a manager of the medical laboratory are also changing. No longer is it probable
that a medical technologist, without further training and even education, will
advance to the level of manager, with the required personnel, legal, ethical, and
business responsibilities, without education and experience in these areas.
Equipment and Supplies
Equipment and supply lists for the medical laboratory are complex and contain
literally thousands of items that are used on a regular basis. While cost is a great
part of making decisions, it is not the only factor involved in choosing methodology,
which would include both the equipment needed and the supplies required
to perform the various procedures. Besides the financial aspects of operating a
laboratory, a technical supervisor may work in conjunction with the laboratory
manager, setting personnel standards, establishing training and evaluation processes,
and monitoring the quality assurance program.
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