title: Using benchmarking to manage your laboratory.
abstract: How does your cost per test compare with the competition? Does your productivity measure up? Benchmarking data provide the answers, but you may not realize just how far the information can go. In times of budget cuts, comparing your laboratory operations with the best performers can be crucial. The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS) Pathology Department in Richmond, Virginia, demonstrated that benchmarking is more than a paper exercise. It literally saved the laboratory. The keys were clarification, consistency, and communication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Deborah D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Reynolds
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006785:Hospitals, University; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007857:Leadership; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010337:Pathology Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014768:Virginia