Cassim Naseem, Coetzee Lindi M, Tepper Manfred E E, Perelson Louella, Glencross Deborah K
National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, South Africa.
Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Afr J Lab Med. 2020 Apr 23;9(2):948. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v9i2.948. eCollection 2020.
In South Africa's National Health Laboratory Service, ad hoc mean turn-around time (TAT) reporting is an important indicator of performance. However, historic static TAT reporting did not assess very long or very short times. An interactive TAT dashboard was developed using the following TAT measures; (1) median, (2) 75th percentile and (3) percentage of within cut-off TAT to allow for improved differentiation of TAT performance.
The objective of our study was to demonstrate increased efficiency achieved by using an interactive TAT dashboard.
A retrospective descriptive study design was used. Creatinine TAT outcomes were reported over 122 weeks from a high-volume laboratory in Gauteng, South Africa. The percentage of within cut-off and 75th percentile TAT were analysed and reported using Microsoft Excel. A focus group session was used to populate a cause and effect diagram.
The percentage of within cut-off TAT increased from 10% in week 4 to 90% and higher from week 81. The 75th percentile decreased from 10 hours in week 4 to under 5 h from week 71. Component TAT analysis revealed that the 75th percentile testing was 5 h or longer for weeks 4, 5 and 48. The 75th percentile review TAT ranged from 1 h to 15 h. From week 41, the review TAT was under 1 h.
Our study demonstrated that the use of an interactive TAT dashboard coupled with good management can dramatically improve TAT and efficiency in a high-volume laboratory.
在南非国家卫生实验室服务中心，临时平均周转时间（TAT）报告是一项重要的绩效指标。然而，以往的静态TAT报告并未对极长或极短的时间进行评估。使用以下TAT指标开发了一个交互式TAT仪表板：（1）中位数，（2）第75百分位数，以及（3）在截止TAT范围内的百分比，以更好地区分TAT绩效。
我们研究的目的是证明使用交互式TAT仪表板可提高效率。
采用回顾性描述性研究设计。报告了南非豪登省一家高流量实验室122周内的肌酐TAT结果。使用Microsoft Excel分析并报告在截止范围内的百分比和第75百分位数TAT。通过焦点小组会议绘制因果图。
在截止TAT范围内的百分比从第4周的10%增加到第81周及以后的90%以上。第75百分位数从第4周的10小时降至第71周及以后的5小时以下。组件TAT分析显示，第4周、第5周和第48周的第75百分位数测试时间为5小时或更长。第75百分位数的审核TAT范围为1小时至15小时。从第41周开始，审核TAT低于1小时。
我们的研究表明，在高流量实验室中，使用交互式TAT仪表板并结合良好的管理可以显著提高TAT和效率。
