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DocDesastro
DocDesastro
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Sun May 17, 2020 2:17 pm
I encounter a big problem when organizing my hospital and frankly, this one is so very different from what I am used to in reality.
One of the worst diagnoses are blood draw and microbiologic sampling. Why is that so? Well, mainly, because these procedures keep the patient running through the hospital like mad and give him aeons to wait for the result. When I visit my GP and have my blood checked, the blood is drawn and then fetched by a nurse to a room where the samples are collected from more than one case and hauled to the labs together. The doc mostly sends me home or back to hospitalization while the labs conduct the analysis. I do not need to go there myself and I definitively do not need to wait in front of the lab and wait for the results to get them myself to the docs again. The doc will get them either via fax or e-mail.

So here is my proposal:
There are pathologic diagnoses and procedures that require labs. You may pick several of them and the doc collects the samples. After that, the patient can be sent home to return on next day to pick up results without causing the 'shocked' evaluation or be sent back to ward. Meanwhile a dedicated nurse that might belong to the lab department will run around and fetch samples and be able to pick up more than one perhaps and then take them to the corresponding lab. Maybe she sits in a special nurse room and fetches them from the doctors office and puts those in a fridge or prepares them for analysis before taking them to the labs en bulk. When the techs have finished the lab tests, the result is automatically transferred to patient and the doc will only sit in front of his PC checking results while the patient is waiting in his office. No more disgruntled patients running amok in the lab waiting rooms Smile
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MedJet
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Sun May 17, 2020 7:35 pm
DocDesastro wrote:I encounter a big problem when organizing my hospital and frankly, this one is so very different from what I am used to in reality.
One of the worst diagnoses are blood draw and microbiologic sampling. Why is that so? Well, mainly, because these procedures keep the patient running through the hospital like mad and give him aeons to wait for the result. When I visit my GP and have my blood checked, the blood is drawn and then fetched by a nurse to a room where the samples are collected from more than one case and hauled to the labs together. The doc mostly sends me home or back to hospitalization while the labs conduct the analysis. I do not need to go there myself and I definitively do not need to wait in front of the lab and wait for the results to get them myself to the docs again. The doc will get them either via fax or e-mail.

So here is my proposal:
There are pathologic diagnoses and procedures that require labs. You may pick several of them and the doc collects the samples. After that, the patient can be sent home to return on next day to pick up results without causing the 'shocked' evaluation or be sent back to ward. Meanwhile a dedicated nurse that might belong to the lab department will run around and fetch samples and be able to pick up more than one perhaps and then take them to the corresponding lab. Maybe she sits in a special nurse room and fetches them from the doctors office and puts those in a fridge or prepares them for analysis before taking them to the labs en bulk. When the techs have finished the lab tests, the result is automatically transferred to patient and the doc will only sit in front of his PC checking results while the patient is waiting in his office. No more disgruntled patients running amok in the lab waiting rooms Smile

I find the only thing I desire for labs at this point are staff with the ability to serve hospitalized patients only. I'd like to locate these lab facilities closer to my trauma center. Otherwise, I find the current lab schematic at my hospital fairly efficient. I have waiting rooms nearby, all the lab depts in one location, a break room and restroom nearby and away they go. occasionally I end up with the patient here or there waiting for a result, yet, most of the time they cut through the demand pretty good. I don't think bringing patients back the following day would work to well. You'd end up with this perpetual glut of demand the rolls over from day to day as those patients return on top of the new patients that are seeking to be treated w/ or w/o labs.
DocDesastro
DocDesastro
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Sun May 17, 2020 7:40 pm
This feature does not seem to work right now. I made labs with dedicated personal whilst switching off the feat for the other techs, but no tests were made over days. Maybe this is coincidence and I did not get matching diseases or my docs are good enough not to bother blood tests but the only thing I am missing currently is a cardiology, so I get a plethora of different diseases. Do you know by chance, whether lab techs set to hospitalized only work?
It would be great, if we could assign labs to certain doctors offices or wards so that work can be shared a bit.
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MedJet
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Sun May 17, 2020 9:21 pm
DocDesastro wrote:This feature does not seem to work right now. I made labs with dedicated personal whilst switching off the feat for the other techs, but no tests were made over days. Maybe this is coincidence and I did not get matching diseases or my docs are good enough not to bother blood tests but the only thing I am missing currently is a cardiology, so I get a plethora of different diseases. Do you know by chance, whether lab techs set to hospitalized only work?
It would be great, if we could assign labs to certain doctors offices or wards so that work can be shared a bit.

If my memory serves me correct building a separate facility to serve only hospitalized patients does not currently function properly. You can only select individuals in one lab to serve hospitalized patients. So, having multiple labs it seems like may be the real problem here.
DocDesastro
DocDesastro
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Sun May 17, 2020 10:07 pm
So in your opinion it is better to have a multi-staff lab and switch some of the techs to hospitalized only instead of building a dedicated lab near the department you guess you are having trouble in?
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Fading Qualia
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 3:05 am
Just in case it's helpful, the current state of lab roles is explained in this thread:

https://projecthospital.forumotion.com/t2578-open-lab-staff-not-obeying-role-specifications#9426

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MedJet
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 5:58 am
Fading Qualia wrote:Just in case it's helpful, the current state of lab roles is explained in this thread:

https://projecthospital.forumotion.com/t2578-open-lab-staff-not-obeying-role-specifications#9426


thanks. I read what you posted on the link. Now my understanding is that you indeed tried to create a second lab (now was this all 3 types or 1 specific branch) that employed staffers that served only hospitalized patients. You mention that you set them to "enabled clinic role on techs" I take that to mean you selected clinic patients for their role responsibilities as well? If so, that's what I wish we could be rid of. I respect the nature of the situation, it sounds like it might not be feasible given certain issues/constraints. I hope it might. I prefer to run my trauma dept as a "one stop shop;" I have setup my inpatient-only trauma radiology dept on the same floor and envision a lab dept in the same area that services only inpatient diagnostic procedures. Oh well, thankfully we have that role for radiology.
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Fading Qualia
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 2:49 pm
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Yes, you're reading that correctly. I tried building two laboratories and it didn't work. It appears that the clinic/hospitalization role affects only examinations. So, it works as intended for any patients that need radiology/cardiography/sonography, but the "clinic" role for lab techs is what allows them to run all lab tests. As Jan puts it in that thread:

jan.oxymoron wrote:Hi, thanks for the message! We actually have this on our list, unfortunately the fix got already postponed a few times, there's always something more critical that pops up. Smile

Basically, the roles are mostly meant for technologists at radiology and in specialized units, so they should be named (if we could fit such long tests) like this to match how it works in game:

- Examinations of clinic patients, all lab tests
- Examinations of hospitalized patients

It's not clear yet if we'll just rename these or make any actual changes to the roles (adding new roles is a bit tricky because of existing saves). I hope this at least makes it a bit more clear!

Since lab techs don't actually do examinations, that means the "clinic" role button essentially serves as an on/off switch for the time being. When I got rid of the clinic role on my lab techs so they would only serve hospital patients it also turned off all of their lab functions.

I agree with you--it would be nice to be able to designate labs for inpatient only. For the time being, I end up running one massive lab with tons of staff and place it right next to my ER. Clinic patients can walk there (and they are near the TC if they collapse in the waiting room!) while my lab techs have only a short walk to pick up samples in the ER. Although I do dream of a day when I can have both an inpatient and outpatient lab. It would be really nice to keep lab test queues short for the ER since those are usually more urgent.
DocDesastro
DocDesastro
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 2:53 pm
Thanks for clarification. So I switched them off instead of giving them patients who are hospitalized. Damn.
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Fading Qualia
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 3:05 pm
DocDesastro wrote:Thanks for clarification. So I switched them off instead of giving them patients who are hospitalized. Damn.

Unfortunately, yes.

Given the way game mechanics are currently designed there may be a way to force the intended result for the time being. For example, you may be able to build one lab on the same floor as your clinic with a waiting room and place a second lab without a waiting room either (1) far enough away from your first lab that the waiting room doesn't work for it or (2) on a different level with elevator access to the ER. Since there isn't a valid waiting room for that second lab, I would think that clinic patients would only go to the first lab that has one (either that or you'll get constant pop up messages that you're missing a waiting room). It also wouldn't be a perfect solution because hospitalized patients will queue for whoever is close and has the smallest current queue (which means techs from your outpatient lab may still go to pick up the tests). I haven't tried any of these solutions yet, however, so no promises that they'll work. They're just two options on my mental list to try someday. Smile
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Fading Qualia
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 3:30 pm
Okay, just tested putting a second lab on another level without a waiting room. I got endless pop ups that my hematology lab was missing a waiting room and patients would leave without going to the lab with a waiting room. So that idea was a bust. Looks like large central labs will be the way to go at the moment.
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MedJet
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Reorganize laboratories and the way they work Empty Re: Reorganize laboratories and the way they work

Mon May 18, 2020 6:55 pm
Fading Qualia wrote:Okay, just tested putting a second lab on another level without a waiting room. I got endless pop ups that my hematology lab was missing a waiting room and patients would leave without going to the lab with a waiting room. So that idea was a bust. Looks like large central labs will be the way to go at the moment.

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