Promoting, building and sustaining a regional laboratory network in a changing environment

Area of Science:

• Laboratory Medicine
• Healthcare Management
• Pathology Services

Background:

• A decade-long laboratory outreach program at Queen's University serves Southeastern Ontario.
• The program provides reference testing and expertise to rural and urban community hospitals.
• Publicly funded healthcare cuts in Ontario have significantly impacted laboratory medicine practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the internal and external challenges faced by the outreach program.
• To detail strategies used to manage these challenges effectively.
• To demonstrate the maintenance and enhancement of program services.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of challenges within the regional laboratory outreach program.
• Implementation of reengineering and consolidation strategies.
• Focus on maintaining and enhancing service quality and cost-effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Successful management of internal and external challenges.
• Continued improvement in the quality of regional laboratory services.
• Significant increases in cost-effectiveness through strategic changes.

Conclusions:

• The laboratory outreach program adapted successfully to a changing healthcare environment.
• Reengineering and consolidation led to enhanced services and cost-effectiveness.
• The program serves as a model for sustainable laboratory medicine in resource-constrained settings.