IMPROVING TURNAROUND TIME FOR SEND-OUT LABORATORY TESTS TO MEDIC MEDICAL CENTER AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 1
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Reducing laboratory turnaround time (TAT) improves diagnostic efficiency, treatment timeliness, and patient satisfaction. At the outpatient laboratory, outsourced tests—about 80% processed at Medic Medical Center—were returned after 3–5 days due to inefficient handover processes, limited digitalization, and manual administration. Therefore, the quality improvement project on the process of returning outsourced laboratory test results was implemented with the objective of reducing the waiting time by at least 30%
Objective: Improve the turnaround time for test results sent to Medic for patients whose samples are collected at Children’s Hospital 1:(1) Achieve a 100% same-day reporting rate for selected tests sent to Medic across submitting departments through supportive tools;
(2) Achieve a 90% on-time submission rate of specimens sent to Medic.
Methods: All outpatient and inpatient referred specimens were included. A pre–post time-series design was applied, with PDCA-based interventions. Data were collected weekly and analyzed using run charts.
Results: Next-day reporting increased from 84.5% to 99.7%. On-time referral improved from 83.9% to 94.7%, and specimen dispatch compliance rose from 96.7% to 99.74%.
Conclusion: The interventions effectively reduced turnaround time and improved quality indicators to near-target levels with sustained stability. The model is feasible, scalable, and requires ongoing monitoring for long-term sustainability.
Keywords
laboratory turnaround time improvement, time to receive test results
Article Details
References
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