Value Addition Through Process Excellence – The Futurescape of Laboratory Medicine

The last century has witnessed paradigm shifts in the way in which laboratory medicine is practiced. This is largely due to the “industrialization” of healthcare and with it laboratory medicine, the ever-increasing demands for error reduction with containment of cost, and also consolidation and need for evidence based disease management. The focus has also moved from “patient” to consumer – with changing expectations to be fulfilled. An easy access to high end technology, standardized analytical systems, diagnostic kits and to accreditation has landed most good diagnostic laboratories on level platform. In such a situation, the differentiation for the diagnostic laboratories has come to lie in the value it can provide in excess of the basic accreditation requirements. Customer service experience defines the laboratory’s reputation. The customer footprint includes patients, physicians, community and the laboratory personnel. The pursuit of process excellence has emerged as a critical strategy to ensure efficiency, reliability and value creation. It involves refining of every step of the total testing process in the laboratory to ensure optimal resource utilization and error reduction.