LM Informatics

Informatics & Management

Supervision:
James MacLowry, MD

Location:

OHSU

Duration:

4 to 5 weeks

Pre-requisites:

None

• Understand the role of information processing and laboratory information systems in patient care.
• Be capable of using information technology appropriately and efficiently to access and evaluate clinical information on specific patients.
• Know the fundamentals of laboratory information systems in order to be able to make informed decisions about purchasing implementing, maintaining, enhancing, and ensuring the quality of information technology applications in the laboratory.
• Understand the concepts of an electronic medical record and an electronic health record, and the role of laboratory information and laboratory computers with respect to these entities.
• Be able to identify the main determinants of success in the relationship between the pathologist and institutional managers of information systems.
• Develop user-level familiarity with the basic applications of personal computers and facility in performing everyday laboratory medicine tasks using them.
• Gain experience with electronic sources of information relevant to laboratory medicine, and know how to use information access, retrieval, and communication tools.
• Be able to participate with medical staff in the development of clinical practice guidelines for cost-effective use of laboratory tests for diagnosis and management of patient problems.
• Be able to monitor utilization of laboratory tests within the health care organization to identify patterns of test utilization that are inappropriate inlight of the clinical practice guidelines, bot over- and under- ordering of laboratory tests.
• Be able to work effectively with the medical staff to modigy test ordering behavior to maximize cost-effective utilization of laboratory resources when patterns of inappropriate laboratory test utilizaition are identified.
• Have an understanding of finance, acounting and reimbursement including budgetary planning, managing and controlling laboratory operations, basic accounting principles and procedures, and use of benchmark tools for productivity and financial analysis.
• Understand the principles of human resources management, including basic job interview skills, determining number of personnel (staffing requirements) and their productivity, ensuring the competency of personnel to perform their assigned functions, discipline procedures, and legal rights of employees.
• Understand laboratory operations, including information flow from laboratory order through result reporting; choosing reference laboratories and monitoring their performance; laboratory design, layout and instrument selection; establishing laboratory policies (technical, safety, hazardous waste and infection control); and application of conflict resolution and problem solving techniques in responding to complaints about laboratory service.
• Understand and be able to apply principles of continuous quality improvement or total quality management (CQI, TQM) and quality assurance.
• Be able to demonstrate skills in leadership, motivation and communication.
• Understand and comply with licensure, accreditation, and otherregulatory requirements of CAP, JCAHO, CLIA, FDA, FTC, OSHA, and state and local standards and regulations.
• Be familiar with strategic planning, setting goals for the clinical laboratory including market analysis, projections, consensus building, brainstorming, and long range strategic planning.
• Understand the definition of fee splitting, self referral, unnecessary or excessive testing, fraudulent filling, and inadequate or under testing.
• Be able to apply the CAP or JCAHO laboratory accreditation program as a management tool.
• Be able to participate effectively on institutional medical staff committees and in medical staff conferences.
• Be able to follow up on problems and complaints in a timely manner and solve underlying system problems.
• Be able to determine, in coordination with the medical staff and administration of the health care organization, extent of services to be offered and, where service are not offered, prepare a plan for service to be performed outside the facility.
• Be able to implement a quality assurance program to provide ongoing review of the ability of the clinical laboratory to provide necessary clinical services in a timely fashion.
• Understand the relationships among the medical staff, administration, governing board and health care network administration.
• Understand the form, function and content of the medical record in relationship to the clinical laboratory, hospital and health care network.
• Understand the roles and responsibilities of the medical staff including department and committee structure, credentialing, peer review and due process.
• Understand the professional and economic relationships among pathologists, hospitals, other physicians, non-physicians employees and health care managers.
• Understand the medicolegal risks of anatomic and clinical pathology and strategies to avoid them.
• Understand medical malpractice insurance.

• Attend faculty discussion about lab management and informatics topics.
• Attend management-related meetings with the Medical Director as opportunities present themselves during the year.
• Complete assigned informatics projects.

• Satisfactory completion of informatics training will be based on attendance at the sessions and satisfactory completion of assignments.