Quality improvement team uses FOCUS-PDCA method to reduce laboratory STAT volume and turnaround time

How quickly do you turn around "STAT" laboratory requests? Do delays in processing STATS cause delays in deciding patient treatment protocols? Do these delays increase your patient's length of stay? The authors describe a situation in which morning STATS were delayed because of a large volume of patient requests. This article looks at the use of continuous quality improvement tools to improve this persistent laboratory problem. It explains FOCUS-PDCA, the method, and describes its application to reduce total STAT requests from 37% to 27% and to improve their turnaround time by 67%.