J Clin Pathol Qual Control.  2000 Dec;22(2):307-312.

Management of Clinical Laboratory Staffs in Korea

• Lee SM
• Suh IB
• Yoon SY
• Lim CS
• Lee KN

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Labor cost is the majority of the cost in clinical tests, so personnel management is very important for highly efficient laboratory. This survey was done for analyses of staffing and workload in clinical laboratories. METHOD: Survey sheets were sent to 400 laboratories for getting basic information of laboratory and staffs, and were replied from 89 laboratories and 195 laboratory staffs. The answers were analyzed by descriptive statistics, ANOVA, t-test or correlation analysis.
RESULTS
1) The classification of laboratories was adequate by the number of staffs. Laboratories were classified by number of staffs: small (1-6), medium (7-13), big (14-42) and super (>42)-sized laboratory. 2) Bigger laboratories employed less full time employees (Big; 79%, super; 66%). 3) The annual number of the tests per laboratory staff were significantly different between medium and big sized laboratories (medium; 50,292+/-25,788 vs big; 89,461+/-35,312, p<0.001 by ANOVA). 4) Degree of laboratory automation was higher in big sized laboratories than medium ones (medium; 11.7+/-2.1 vs big; 13.3+/-0.9, p<0.0001 by t-test). 5) Laboratory staffs were not satisfied with their salaries (42.2%). 6) Continuous re-education was insufficient in 56% of laboratories. 7) Most of the laboratory staffs were satisfied with their test results, but they wanted to accomplish difficult tests (93%). DISCUSSION: Laboratory automation and LIS were important to increase the laboratory efficiency. It needs re-education and quality improvement of staffs.

MeSH Terms

Automation, Laboratory
Classification
Korea*
Personnel Management
Quality Improvement
Salaries and Fringe Benefits