title: Redesigning a lab system from the ground up: how HealthPartners improved quality and cut costs.
abstract: HealthPartners, one of Minnesota's largest non-profit health care organizations, faced a daunting choice in summer 2001: find $30 million in operational improvements in its owned-care delivery system or risk losing ground in one of the country's most competitive health-care markets. This article details the specific steps the laboratory took to cut its expenses by 45% in 1 year, as well as lessons learned once the process was completed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory and Radiology Services, HealthPartners, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Butala
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D007753:Laboratories / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D008910:Minnesota; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017749:Total Quality Management