Seeking improvements through laboratory benchmarking. The Western North Carolina Collaborative Group.
The laboratory departments at six North Carolina hospitals have formed an ongoing benchmarking team that has been meeting on a regular basis for more than 2 years. This article describes how the laboratory managers on this multihospital team have learned the benchmarking process, standardized procedural cost accounting in the group, compared and reduced costs, improved quality and efficiency, and created networking channels with other health-care professionals. The team members have quantified and reported significant savings and increased revenue for their laboratories as a direct result of their participation in this project.
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Street
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D017046:Cost Savings; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007324:Institutional Management Teams; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D009657:North Carolina; D017749:Total Quality Management