Six sigma project reduces analytical errors in an automated lab.

The North Shore-LIJ Health System is the third-largest nonsectarian health system in the country. Created in 1998, the health system’s laboratory model consists of a strategically located core lab that uses total laboratory automation and offers consolidated testing, a rapid response lab in each of the system’s 18 hospitals, a standardized LIS, and standardized laboratory instrumentation. The core laboratory performs over 3.5 million tests annually for a client base comprised of hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinical trials, physician offices, and reference testing. The lab performs approximately 65% of the routine testing for the network as well as all microbiology, esoteric, molecular diagnostic, and reference testing.