How a $10 ream of paper saved a hospital ~$165,000
Using contextual inquiry and process mapping to resolve emergency lab bottlenecks without writing a single line of code.
At a Glance
~$165,000 / Year | Potential Cost Savings Identified
6-Minute Reduction | In Emergency STAT Lab Wait Times
$10 Solution | Analog Paper Indicator Processing Implemented
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The Problem & Context: Brought in by hospital leadership to investigate severe delays in Labor and Delivery (L+D) emergency care and determine why STAT lab results were consistently delayed.
The Method & Analysis: Executed cross-functional contextual inquiry and process mapping across L+D units and central laboratories. Cross-referenced observational data with Qlik delivery analytics to pinpoint operational bottlenecks.
The Discovery: Uncovered that emergency STAT lab specimens arriving via pneumatic tubes looked identical to routine daily lab tubes, forcing lab techs to spend an average of 6 extra minutes identifying emergency orders.
The Outcome: Recommended a $10 analog solution inserting a half-sheet pink paper indicator into emergency tubes, instantly prioritizing STAT specimens, cutting wait times by 6 minutes, and saving the hospital an estimated ~$165,000 annually.