Applying the Principles of Lean Production to Gastrointestinal Biopsy Handling: From the Factory Floor to the Anatomic Pathology Laboratory.

Objectives: To implement Lean principles to accommodate expanding volumes of gastrointestinal biopsies and to improve laboratory processes overall.

Design: Our continuous improvement (kaizen) project analyzed the current state for gastrointestinal biopsy handling using value-stream mapping for specimens obtained at a 487-bed tertiary care pediatric hospital in Dallas, Texas. We identified non-value-added time within the workflow process, from receipt of the specimen in the histology laboratory to the delivery of slides and paperwork to the pathologist.