Approximately 20 percent of lab managers report planning to retire in the next 5 years, and a shortage of nearly 5,000 medical technologists is projected per year. On Thursday afternoon, Tara Kochis, executive vice president of Slone Partners, Miami Beach, FL, a laboratory staffing company, provided some somber stats about the lack of new ...

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine personally, and are not necessarily representative of Texas Health Resources (THR) or its subsidiaries. How can so many of us hold the title of leader, yet never be remembered? Why do some leaders make a difference while others do not? Fear. Fear keeps us from making a difference. Too ...

As economic pressures increase you may hear a buzz about ''productivity.'' Your manager or senior administrator may use benchmarking to compare your laboratory to others. And if you aren't working hard enough by the numbers, you'll hear that, too. Not working hard enough? Maybe your lab has these: A tech who spends time online whenever ...

Millennials, the youngest in our workforce, ignore the chain of command. While Boomers can't imagine work without a top-down structure, Millennials (so-called Generation Y) reject ''command'' for ''collaborate.'' I read this not with resentment but amazement that any idea so simple could work. Then again, what happens now doesn't work, at ...

One of the realities of my job has been working with other healthcare managers. In the last ten years, I've worked with many. At the risk of telling secrets, here are a few myths about managers: Managers are trained to do their jobs. Many managers are in their positions after being promoted from within. After years of service, they have ...

Suppose you want to measure turnaround time for ED specimens. This naturally raises the question What is turnaround time? According to one article in Clinical Biochemist, although clinicians complain about turnaround times being too long, most don't agree on what is acceptable. Or even what it is: according to a 1998 CAP Q-Probes program, over ...

Your workplace may have a buddy system to bond new hires with your organization. That's great for trivial questions about the lunch menu, where to park, or who handles payroll. But what about tough questions? For example: Why do I work more weekends than other techs? In an open environment, this question is asked to and answered by the ...

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine personally, and are not necessarily representative of Texas Health Resources (THR) or its subsidiaries. I dreaded visits from Battalion HQ. Bravo Company operated fine without Big Brother coming down and creating more work. As a 20-year-old platoon leader, I had to gauge what level of ...

I often hear this phrase as individuals who aren't in the administrative loop don't understand. To respiratory care associates, they're producing the same number of procedures but have felt the pinch with talk of layoffs, merit raises decreasing or going away, and frozen job openings. First, you need to understand that the health care industry ...

In an interview with Federal News Radio in March, Tara O’Toole, MD, MPH, was asked what she would tell President Obama if she had the chance. Her reply: ''There is a possibility, a real possibility, that there could be the equivalent of a bio-Katrina on his watch.'' Later, the Obama Administration nominated Dr. O'Toole to serve as under ...