Henry Ford Health System

Clinical laboratory network standardizes operations and drives continuous improvement with Danaher Business System

Challenged by evolving paradigms in healthcare, Henry Ford Health System—a network of clinical laboratories spanning six hospitals and dozens of medical centers—sought to increase quality, lower costs and improve patient care. New challenges, however, required new thinking. Simply updating instruments would not deliver the far-reaching results this healthcare provider was seeking.

That’s why Henry Ford Health System enlisted Beckman Coulter to empower their success over the long term. The partnership provided Henry Ford Health System access to the proprietary Danaher Business System (DBS), a foundation upon which they standardized laboratory operations and built their own system of continuous improvement. Using their learnings and customized DBS tools, Henry Ford Health System can now deliver tens of millions of test results with accuracy and efficiency, as well as implement ideas faster than ever as they position themselves for the future.

Video Henry Ford Health System: Partnership

For Henry Ford Health System, providing the best care to 4.3 million patients meant elevating clinical laboratory operations. Technology was only part of the solution; process optimization and a commitment to continuous improvement enabled their full transformation.

Evaluating potential partners: a checklist for your laboratory

Want to bring best practices and lessons learned from Henry Ford Health System’s experience to your own laboratory? Start with this checklist for evaluating potential partners. Does your prospective partner:

Share your goals and values?
Continuous improvement is more than a point-in-time program—it’s a mindset. The shift to a continuous improvement mindset doesn’t happen overnight, so it’s crucial your partner shares your vision for your laboratory and believes in the same methodology you do for achieving it.

Have expertise in laboratory operations?
Optimized analyzers and instrumentation are one aspect of effective laboratory standardization and continuous improvement; the rest requires operational expertise. Their expertise can guide your decisions about what to replicate from other successful systems, and what to reinvent. For example, Henry Ford Health System tailored proprietary DBS tools for their own laboratories and experienced rapid uptake—in some cases, achieving positive results within a week.

Embrace your laboratory’s role in patient care?
Is your laboratory considered a trusted partner in patient care? Would having the confidence of your organization’s chief medical officer make a difference to your staff? Working with a partner who deeply understands these aims, and collaborates with you to fulfill them, can reduce the risks associated with change and potentially help improve the reputation of your laboratory.

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