LABORATORY MANAGER JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Serves patients by providing medical laboratory diagnostic and therapeutic

information, products, and services.

Laboratory Manager Job Duties:

 Provides medical laboratory diagnostic and therapeutic information, products,

and services by establishing specimen preparation procedures; developing and
implementing analytical procedures; evaluating laboratory information;
consulting with pathologists; reporting results according to protocols mandated
by the hospital and public health department.
 Maintains medical laboratory equipment performance by establishing quality
standards; developing operations, quality, and troubleshooting procedures;
ensuring staff compliance; certifying instrument performance; arranging
equipment replacement, service, and repair.
 Maintains medical laboratory supplies inventory by checking stock to determine
inventory level; anticipating needed supplies; placing and expediting orders for
supplies; verifying receipt of supplies.
 Maintains medical laboratory productivity by monitoring workload of functional
areas; identifying peak and slack periods; making operational or staffing
adjustment.
 Maintains quality results by participating in the hospital quality assurance
program; consulting with pathologists; performing proficiency surveys;
reviewing quality control and quality assurance programs; making adjustments
in policy and procedures; generating reports; maintaining records.
 Maintains medical laboratory information system by identifying information
needs and problems; recommending improvements; establishing priorities;
testing; writing user manuals; training employees; maintaining security and
confidentiality.
 Implements new programs, tests, methods, instrumentation, and procedures by
investigating alternatives; preparing proposals; developing and performing
parallel testing; monitoring progress.
 Maintains medical laboratory staff by recruiting, selecting, orienting, and
training employees.
 Completes operational requirements by scheduling and assigning employees;
following up on work results.
 Maintains medical laboratory staff results by counseling and disciplining
employees; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results.
 Maintains professional and technical knowledge by attending educational
workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal
networks; participating in professional societies.
 Prepares physicians, nurses, patients, and students by teaching analytical
theory, testing methodology, and the role of tested components in human
physiology and medical practice.
 Complies with state and professional continuing education licensure
requirements by providing in-service programs; monitoring outcomes.
 Resolves problems by consulting with pathologists, other laboratory managers,
technical coordinators, laboratory directors, physicians, nurses, and other
health care professionals; attending committee meetings.
 Bills for services by completing requests for service; monitoring billed units;
providing the billing office with service codes.
 Provides administrative support for the hospital by acting as manager on call.
 Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.
Laboratory Manager Skills and Qualifications:

Managing Processes, Presenting Technical Information, Management Proficiency,

Equipment Maintenance, Training , Analyzing Information , Informing Others, Quality
Focus, Clinical Lab Testing, Lab Environment, Technical Understanding

Description:

Plan, manage, organize and coordinate Laboratory services. Subject matter

expert and the technical resource for the region in designated specialized area.
Responsible for the design and oversight of highly reliable laboratory operations
including accountabilities for quality of care, member experience, affordability,
standard work and employee experience and competence. Accountable for role
modeling principles defined in KP Mission and Standards and creating a culture of
compliance, ethics and integrity.

Essential Responsibilities:

Exceptional Care and Service

 Lead and manage technical, clinical, and operational aspects of the laboratory
and pathology services. Monitor test results, equipment, and laboratory
information systems. Perform, assist and support functions within laboratory as
needed.

 Promote an organizational culture of safety and ensure appropriate patient

safety.

 Design/evaluate processes to ensure high reliable standard laboratory services

across continuum of care.
 Build strong performance-based, collaborative relationships with local and
regional leadership fostered by frequent communication and interaction to identify
and resolve problems/issues and improve delivery of laboratory
services. Maintain a productive partnership with pathologists and laboratory
staff.

 Represent the laboratory in Medical Operations Building and Regional facilities

functions and committees.

 Participate in on call responsibility to include, not limited to, Lab Manager and/or
Manager of the Day programs.

 Develop, implement, and monitor laboratory policies and procedures

 Oversee regulatory and accreditation requirements to ensure departmental

technical, quality, and administrative activities are compliant with all regulatory
requirements including, but not limited to CAP, COLA, OSHA and CMS.

 Establish, implement, and maintain service standards to meet member and

internal client expectations.

 Implements and monitors new service offerings to meet changing business

needs.
Employee Experience

 Manages departmental human resources.

 Ensures on-going staff development.

 Develops and presents in-service programs to medical center and regional staff.

 Designs and implements the laboratory safety program, including hazardous

waste management, chemical hygiene plan, and injury prevention program.

 Hire,develop and retain competent and professional staff.

 Evaluate performance, recognize achievements and, when necessary, initiate

corrective action in accordance with Kaiser policy and state and federal law.

 Provide and oversee training and competency as well as teaching, promoting

and modeling effective communication for staff.

 Ensure employee experience activities incorporate all applicable KP policies,

regulations and accreditation standards.

 Ensures technical and support staff provide the highest quality of care and
comply with CLIA, CAP, COLA, Joint Commission, AABB, NCQA, federal, state,
and local requirements

 Accountable to deliver an environment and culture of employee safety.

Grow Sustainably

 Administer staffing, materials and capital equipment budget for the assigned
laboratories.

 Perform financial planning; review budget preparation and justification of labor

and non-labor expenditures.
 Maintain an ongoing process to identify and evaluate cost restructuring activities
that achieve gainful results for the laboratory and organization.

 Ensures compliance with clinical practice standards, staffing, payroll, budgets,

fiscal management, and quality improvement activities.

 Participates in the development of and implements and monitors strategic

plans/initiatives that are aligned with organizational strategy and operating plans,
improves Member and Employee Experience, and reduces the overall cost of
medical care.

 Creates staff alignment on regional and national strategies, goals, and

priorities.

 Leads overall operations of laboratory services and all employees engaged in

providing those services.

 Collaborates with inter/intra-regional clinical lab facilities to ensure an integrated

laboratory delivery system.

 Leads and manages complex and diverse projects that have region-wide
impact.

 Provides technical and business analysis using quantitative, scientific and

economic methods.

 Participates in feasibility assessment and business case justification(s).

Other
 Upholds and models Kaiser Permanente's Policies and Procedures and
Principles of Responsibilities.

 Responsible for and monitors lab's performance on key indicators to include

affordability, quality and service.

 Completes 24 CEUs (12 technical and 12 leadership) per year.

 Maintains current information and knowledge of all applicable KP policies, local,

and state and federal laws and regulations.

 Performs other related duties as directed and assigned.

Additional Requirements:

 Thorough knowledge of regulatory (state and federal) agency requirements and professional practice
standards to include CLIA, COLA, CAP, NCQA, AABB, local, state and federal regulations.

 Comprehensive knowledge of the function of a medical laboratory.

 Thorough knowledge of principles of supervision, management, personnel management, financial

analysis and budgeting.

 Experience in financial management, program development, quality improvement and project

management.

 Demonstrates customer-focused service skills.

 Demonstrated supervisory skills.

 Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills.

 Demonstrated ability to organize, prioritize and problem solve.

 Demonstrated ability to use good judgment and decision making, responding calmly and effectively in
crisis situations.

 Demonstrated ability to resolve conflict.

 Demonstrated understanding and support for diversity in the workplace.

 Ability to think globally and provide line of sight from regional strategy to front-line staff.

 Highly effective interpersonal skills are required in building programs to support and maintain medical
staff, administrative and community relationships.

 Working knowledge of clinical computer systems, PC computer skills, and Microsoft Office tools

 Thorough knowledge of clinical laboratory operations

Optimizing operations management is necessary for any

organization in any industry.

“Operations management” concerns the planning and organizing of the

administrative, financial and operational processes of a company to better direct and
utilize internal resources.

In the health care industry, people’s lives are at stake. Effective health care
operations management goes beyond improving productivity and earning more
money. Health care operations strategies and software facilitate the efficient
provision and delivery of health care services to patients and communities to
ultimately save and improve lives.

Why health care operations

management matters
Both the health care industry and health care software space are incredibly diverse in
terms of provision of care and communities served, which makes health care
operations management a beast unto itself. Proper operations management is vital.

What is operations management?

Operations management refers to organizing a business to optimally utilize its resources, with
the end goal to create efficiency, specifically, the highest possible level of efficiency.
Operations management solutions and strategies focus on analyzing and improving business
processes and practices. Operations management can be deployed in any industry because the
process starts with analyzing the internal processes and roadblocks that exist within a specific
company.

The products or services that a company offers impact the way it should conduct
operations management.

In health care practices and facilities, operations management is responsible for

facility oversight, staff functionality and delivery of the best care possible.

What is health care operations?

Health care operations include the administrative, financial and legal activities of a hospital,
specialty practice, ancillary care provider or remote health service center. Health care
professionals need to get a handle on operations because, at minimum, they enable running
the business.

Some examples of health care operations include patient case management,

coordination of care within and without a practice, financial management and
medical practice human resources.

On G2 Crowd, software categories existing under the health care operations

software umbrella include:
As you can see, the patient case management software, overall patient experience
software and clinical communication and collaboration software categories aren’t
yet on the list. This is to help streamline the buyer’s research experience — the
“health care operations” category includes only the solutions that streamline
workflows, ease back-and-forth interaction between facility and third-party
providers, or automate daily responsibilities.

The role of HIPAA

Lest we forget the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and
its indelible role in anything medical, let’s briefly discuss the role it plays in the
consideration, deployment and implementation of health care operations software.
HIPAA established the rules, expectations and framework that determined the
appropriate and legal storage and dissemination of private, personal health
information. After HIPAA was passed in 1996, its effect was felt across the entire
health care spectrum. Most of the time, the patient had the authority to specify which
provider could use their health information and which aspects could be disclosed. I
say “most of the time” because HIPAA didn’t apply in scenarios when prohibiting
access to personal health information would result in a negative delivery of care.
The act listed such scenarios, which aligned with some necessary health care
operations.

How operations management is

leveraged in health care
Health care operations takes a variety of forms. As mentioned above, health care
operations spans the spectrum of administration to care delivery. Below are example
areas that benefit from operations management.
  Clinical care management — The health care industry is a service industry, so
it makes sense when organizations make a concerted effort to standardize
protocol to improve performance. Improving clinical care management can
result in reduced readmissions and improved patient-provider relationships.
 Risk management — Medical practices improve when providers mitigate and
optimally manage risk. Examples of risk in a health care setting range from
patient or staff injuries to ballooning costs of expensive services. Hospitals
can leverage predictive analytics technology to cut down on extravagant or
extraneous costs while striving for improved patient satisfaction.
 Financial management — Health care operations management deals with
reducing and optimizing costs in a medical organization. Medical practices
and hospitals have many issues controlling costs. Cost issues can come from
unnecessary treatments or medication prescriptions, treating uninsured
patients, or budget reductions that directly impact the technology,
equipment and salary resources of medical staff.

What is operational excellence in

health care?
“Operational excellence” is a term that comes up when you talk about effective
and efficient health care operations.

Health care providers are devoting more time and resources toward improving
clinical operations. When operational excellence is chased, businesses see financial
benefits and increases in staff productivity. Clinical operational excellence generally
starts at the top (for instance, with demands from stakeholders), but depends on the
mindset and behaviors of staff at every organizational level.

Operational excellence leads health care organizations to reach and sustain

competitive advantage within their industry. By creating and maintaining
operational excellence, medical staff are primed to productively respond to sudden
changes in administration without compromising their organization’s end goals. At
the end of the day, clinical excellence directly translates to providing patients with a
comprehensive and satisfying experience.

When practices, hospitals and clinics achieve operational excellence, any change in
process can result in increased operational efficiency, reduction of clinical
variability and maintained or even improved care quality. That means facilities and
medical professionals can keep up with industry and technological trends, ensuring
modernized practices that can provide the best care for patients, regardless of
diagnosis, medical needs or the availability of clinical services.

Reduce inefficiencies with health

care operations solutions
Innovation of health care technology drives industry trends that require evolving and
adapting of set health care processes, protocols, regulation and strategies. Health
care operations management is an area that undergoes change whenever patient and
industry expectations change.

No matter what health care operations software your facility chooses to implement,
it will help you address and resolve inefficiencies that are preventing your medical
staff from doing what they are trained to do: care for the patient.

 Data capture — Capturing and reporting on facility and patient data is

difficult. Electronic health records and clinical communication software help a
little, but if your practice isn’t interoperable, you’re stuck with disparate
sources of data needing to be reconciled. Effective data capture supports
 compliance and auditing, drives key business decisions and prepares your
organization for any crises.
 Reduction of clinical variability — Clinical variability affects the delivery of
care and ensures accurate inventory levels, supply costs and workflows.
When clinical variability is reduced, every aspect of a medical organization
will benefit. These benefits will affect both staff and patients positively.
 Productive EOC — Environment of care (EOC) in health care is made up of
three elements: the physical space and layout of the health care facility, the
equipment used to support delivery of care and building operations, and the
human beings that make up activity within the facility. All three elements
contribute to a positive patient experience, from pre-visit to treatment to
post-visit.

What administrative, financial, or organizational solutions have you

implemented in your health care practice?

Myriad health care software exist that can help your clinic, practice, or hospital run
at its most optimal and efficient. Head to our overall health care software category to
check out alternatives to the current tools you utilize and find answers to
the questions you should ask when buying health care software.

AUTHOR

Jasmine Lee

Jasmine is G2's senior research analyst for a slew of vertical categories,

currently focusing on the trends, impact, and evolution of the healthtech,
medtech, agtech, propertytech, and construction spaces. Prior to joining G2,
she worked in the nonprofit sector in a copywriting and customer service
capacity, and contributed to a handful of online entertainment and pop culture
publications. G2 allows her to continue investing in her passion for digging into
the nuances of consumer-focused, legacy industries in order to offer digestible,
relatable insight to those same consumers.
Healthcare organizations today find themselves in a challenging business
environment. Yet too often it is internal dysfunction — rather than external
challenges — that hold them back.

Over the past 18 months, researchers have studied the top financial
performers among the more than 85,000 physicians on the athenahealth
network and discovered that, while there is no “one-size-fits-all" recipe for
success, high-performing organizations did share certain characteristics.
Here are five precepts that help explain their operational excellence — and
their financial success.
1. What you can't measure, you can't manage
No performance-improvement plan can be effective without understanding
what needs to be improved. Yet when athenahealth asked 79 senior
healthcare executives what they felt was the greatest barrier to shifting
organizations from fee-for-service to population health management, their
most frequent response was a “lack of transparency into clinical, financial or
operational performance."
Leading organizations don't share this view.

They achieve transparency by, first, reaching consensus over what to

measure; second, agreeing on a process to gather and report these
measures; and third, building a culture of sharing and openness among
physicians and staff.

While many organizations only share group averages or blinded data,

athenahealth's highest performers share unblinded performance data in
order to encourage the exchange of best (and worst) practices. These top
groups are very clear about why they share data and how they select the
indicators they will track — in short, they work hard to avoid the perception
that radical transparency is a “name and shame" exercise.
2. The road to success is always under construction
Top performers have very high expectations of their employees. They
understand that their job is not just to hold employees accountable but to
enable their success by providing ample resources to help providers and
staff improve their performance.

For example, if time-of-service collections are lacking, scripting might be

given to the front desk staff; a dedicated financial counselor might be hired
to handle challenging patient accounts; or a digital check-in system may be
provided to relieve the front desk's workload.
Larger networks undertake internal “bright spotting" to find effective practices
and processes developed by a particular office or staff member — and then
standardize and share these approaches across their networks. Large
networks may also have dedicated internal consultants who can work with
low-performing groups (or even high-performing groups, to help them do
even better). All aspects of performance, including financial, are discussed.

Continuous improvement is the goal.

3. Let your horses run
High performers are generally prescriptive in terms of setting expectations
for employees — but they do not manage by dictate. Instead, physicians and
most staff are encouraged to improvise and problem-solve. Management
knows that patients are gained and lost at the front line of the business, not
in executive suites. So the best way to engage physicians and staff is to let
them feel like they are serving their patients well.
Underperforming physicians and staff are the exception to the hands-off
approach. They are provided training, oversight and in extreme cases
redeployed to new tasks or let go if they are unable to meet expectations.
4. Pay for performance
High performers don't simply reward productivity, but rather engage staff on
a variety of goals. In general, these top performers set incentive models that
support broader improvement efforts; are supported by physicians and staff;
offer variable compensation with a meaningful percentage of pay tied to
incentives; and make sure bonuses are financially meaningful relative to
take-home pay. They reward the teams and individuals that have the biggest
impact on improvements and re-evaluate and adjust compensation as
priorities change or new challenges emerge.
5. Care for your own first
Too many physicians today are finding their workload unsustainable, the
administrative work burdensome, and the impact on personal wellbeing
damaging over the long term. According to athenahealth's 2016 Physician
Engagement and Leadership Index, overall physician engagement stands at
20 percent — lower than engagement across other industries. Medical group
leaders therefore have an important obligation to address wellbeing in their
own clinicians first and foremost.
To that end, high performers focus on designing providers' roles to prevent
burnout. They understand that doing so is a business imperative: our data
shows that the least overwhelmed physicians are often the most productive.
One large, faith-based health system even employs a Vice President of
Medical Mission. “I'm sure this program has saved careers, not to mention
marriages, and even lives," he told researchers.
Operational excellence is just one element required to achieve sustained
competitive advantage — yet it is often the hardest nut to crack. Too often,
executives see their ambitions diluted as their visions, goals and strategies
filter down through their organization.
athenahealth's top performers have all — in their own ways — created
operational capabilities that ensure that their staff can respond to even the
most ambitious strategy or change agenda.

Four trends leading advances in today’s healthcare operations

As transformation, innovation and technology continue to drive the evolution of

healthcare facilities and operations management, four key trends are enabling
healthcare operations executives to make a significant impact on their own
facilities.
Data propels healthcare facilities decision-making
Data—and lots of it—drives the decisions that everyone makes in business
today, and healthcare facilities operations management is no exception. In
an Oracle study of 333 C-level executives (30 of whom are healthcare
executives), 94% say their company is collecting and managing more business
information today than they did two years ago. While it is critical that all
healthcare facilities are prepared to gather, store and interpret this information,
40% of the healthcare executives surveyed gave themselves a "D" or an "F"
rating in terms of their preparedness to handle the onslaught of data.
In the same Oracle study, 93% of executives surveyed said their company is
losing revenue—on average, 14% annually—as a result of not being able to
fully leverage data. Often, the biggest challenge is to find the most efficient,
cost-effective ways to capture and report on data for the facility's day-to-day
operations. This often involves a data-driven facility management solution as it
can help facilitate using data to track required compliance based inspections,
testing and reporting on facility maintenance, rounding to support environment
of care, facility safety and preparedness and patient care. In addition, effective
facility data management can help more efficiently manage operations
budgeting and capital planning.
Emergency preparedness is a must have
These days, it isn't enough that a hospital is prepared for just small-scale
accidents and acts of nature. It's critical that all healthcare facilities have
detailed plans in place for even extreme instances such as a mass casualty
incident (MCI). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) recommends that facilities' emergency management programs include:
1. Hazard identification – Identify and list any hazards that could potentially
affect the facility, both indirect and direct
2. Hazard mitigation – Take measures to reduce or eliminate the probability of
the above hazards affecting the facility
3. Preparedness – Develop a detailed plan to meet the needs of staff, patients
and visitors in the event of a hazard impact
4. Response – Outline the steps that staff members need to take immediately
before (for an impending threat), during and after any incident
5. Recovery – Plan activities and programs for during and after an event to
help return the facility to its usual state or a "new normal"
A range of safety management programs and apps can help ensure hospital
facilities, stakeholders, employees and staff are prepared for emergency
situations large and small.
Recognize patients are also consumers
Healthcare patients today are true consumers who want to be more in control
of their healthcare experiences. One driver of this shift is an industry-wide focus
on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's TripleAim of improving the patient
experience of care, improving the health of key populations and reducing per-
capita health care costs. Another driver is the emphasis on delivering quality
healthcare and fostering patient engagement. Technology—via websites, social
media, blogs and more—that provides patients with immediate access to online
reviews, price transparency and care ratings is also contributing to this shift in
mindset from patients to consumers.
Healthcare operations professionals have a vital role to play in the shift to
treating patients as empowered consumers. A top-rated Environment of Care
(EOC) contributes to a positive patient treatment process, overall sense of well
being and satisfaction with the healthcare provider. Maintaining an excellent
EOC requires vigilance in a number of key areas, such as using mobile
technology to manage formal EOC tours and quality assurance rounding.
Communicating effectively with hospital staff, patients and visitors can also help
boost EOC ratings. Facilities managers have a responsibility to confirm that
compliance work and routine maintenance is completed on time using alerts
and notifications so all relevant parties are informed.
Cost reduction remains a focus
Healthcare organizations are always looking for ways to trim extraneous costs,
ranging from consolidation of specialized care facilities to cost reduction
consultants. At any given time, an operations manager should have a good
ballpark figure of their hospital's facility spending. That includes materials, labor
and productivity costs, individual asset costs and capital expenditures, as well
as system-level and energy management (using benchmarked data) costs. A
CMMS is often utilized to help track these costs and forecast future capital
planning costs. In a doing more with less environment, it is important that
facilities managers be aligned with their hospital's C-suite and/or Board of
Directors as they assess business metrics and how the facility costs fit into the
overall budgets.
Staying ahead in healthcare operations requires a keen understanding of how
these trends can benefit and impact a facility's operations. Big data should be
driving business decisions more than ever, and facilities mangers need a
solution in place to help effectively manage and interpret all this information so
they can make smarter, more informed business decisions. Being prepared for
any event—from an infection outbreak to a variety of lockdown situations,
healthcare facilities must have detailed plans to place to protect patients and
staff in the face of a crisis.
The continuing shift to thinking of patients as "consumers" must be at the
forefront as many of today's patients have choices on which healthcare facility
they choose. Similarly, getting more value for facilities management spend is a
mantra that will persist. The healthcare facility operations managers that will
thrive will be the ones that stay on top of these trends and regularly assess
where related changes can add up to big savings.
What is the role of Operation Manager in hospital?
Healthcare Operations Manager Job Description. A healthcare operations
manager acts as a liaison between the clinical staff and the recipients
of healthcare services. ... This position manages the financial wellbeing of
a healthcare facility, implements policy, and manages the medical and non-medical
staff.

What manages the operation of a healthcare facility?

Health Administrator. Health care administrators, also known
as health services managers and health care managers, direct the operation of
hospitals, health systems and other types of organizations. ... An estimated 300,000
people serve in health administration, from middle management to CEO positions

What are business operations functions?

Operations management (OM) is the business function responsible for managing
the process of creation of goods and services. It involves planning, organizing,
coordinating, and controlling all the resources needed to produce a company's goods
and services. ... Consider a pharmaceutical company such as Merck

What does operations management consist of?

Operations management is chiefly concerned with planning, organizing and
supervising in the contexts of production, manufacturing or the provision of services.
As such, it is delivery-focused, ensuring that an organization successfully turns inputs
to outputs in an efficient manner
 What is the career path of an Operations Manager?
 Facilities Coordinator.
 Purchasing Manager.
 Logistics Analyst.
 Process Engineer.
 Transportation Manager.
 Customer Service Manager.
 Operations Analyst.
 Chief Operations Officer.

What does a hospital administrator do?

Administrators plan departmental activities, evaluate doctors and
other hospital employees, create and maintain policies, help develop procedures for
medical treatments, quality assurance, patient services, and public relations activities
such as active participation in fund-raising and community health planning

What is Operations Management and why is it important?

Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and
controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the
production of goods or services. “Operations management is concerned primarily
with manufacturing or the change of state of physical goods”