Integration of a statewide public hospital laboratory system.
Louisiana operates one of the largest public hospital and clinic systems in the nation, consisting of nine geographically dispersed hospitals, providing a full range of medical care to approximately 1 million low-income and indigent citizens. For many years, these hospitals were under the auspices of the State Department of Hospitals. In 1997, just at the end of a multi-million-dollar procurement project to install laboratory information systems at several of the sites, governance of the nine hospitals was transferred formally to Louisiana State University (LSU) under a new branch, the LSU Health Care Services Division. As a result of Y2K issues at several sites not originally included in the procurement, the LIS installation had to be expanded while facing a very critical implementation deadline. This article describes the procedural and organizational strategies used to successfully accomplish a major project of reorganization and systemic integration of nine geographically distant and disparate public hospital laboratories while simultaneously installing a new networked LIS at all sites within a relatively short span of 3 years.
Boudreau
Donald A
DA
dboudr@LSUHSC.edu
Scheer
W Douglas
WD
Majonos
Joyce S
JS
Brazda
Frederick W
FW
Strong
Jack P
JP
D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems; D003625:Data Collection; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007324:Institutional Management Teams; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007857:Leadership; D008145:Louisiana; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D013219:State Government