Staffing guidelines from workload.Q How does one calculate for justification of retention the number of laboratory personnel to the patient volume and tests performed? A Unfortunately, there are not good guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. for estimating the number of personnel needed for a lab based on workload The term workload can refer to a number of different yet related entities. An amount of labor While a precise definition of a workload is elusive, a commonly accepted definition is the hypothetical relationship between a group or individual human operator and task demands. or patient population. Although some organizations may have developed such guidelines based on their workload and complexity, there are no guidelines that are workable in labs with different mixes of tests and workloads. There have been a number of attempts to develop staffing guidelines, but they have not been very useful. One such program was the CAP Workload Reporting System that attempted to assign weighted workload units based on minutes of technical time. After a number of years, however, this program was abandoned because of great inaccuracies. Information obtained with the CAP program was useful within individual sections of a specific lab, but it was inconsistent across different sections of the lab and between different labs. The Workload Reporting System has been replaced by CAP's Laboratory Management Index Program, or LMIP LMIP Let's Meet in Person (chat) , which uses standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. billable test counts. A lab can compare its test numbers and paid-personnel hours with other labs of similar size in the same geographical area, thus assessing its effectiveness in the use of its staff. This system does not predict staffing requirements. --Daniel M. Baer, MD Professor Emeritus e·mer·i·tus adj. Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement: a professor emeritus. n. pl. Department of Pathology pathology, study of the cause of disease and the modifications in cellular function and changes in cellular structure produced in any cell, organ, or part of the body by disease. Oregon Health and Science University Portland, OR |
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