Laboratory administration--capital budgeting.

The process of capital budgeting varies among different health-care institutions. Understanding the concept of present value of money, incremental cash flow statements, and the basic budgeting techniques will enable the laboratory manager to make the rational and logical decisions that are needed in today's competitive health-care environment.

Laboratory administration--visions into the future. Success in the future will require financially skilled laboratory leaders.

The health-care industry will continue to undergo dramatic changes aimed at reducing cost and improving quality. A high cost department like the clinical laboratory will be a prime candidate for restructuring, reengineering, or outsourcing. The new realities require the laboratory manager to have a working knowledge of financial issues facing both the laboratory and the entire organization. These skills coupled with formal education in medical technology will place the laboratory manager in a leadership position.

The manager's financial handbook. Cost concepts and breakeven analysis.

As the health-care environment becomes more competitive, laboratory managers need to become skillful in using and controlling their resources. Controlling resources usually means managing cost. By analyzing cost and understanding its different components, the laboratory manager can make rational decisions. This article describes and analyzes different categories within which cost can be characterized and shows how breakeven analysis can be used when dealing with fixed-price payers or multiple payment purchases of health-care services.

Restructuring of laboratory services at the Detroit Medical Center. Process and outcomes.

Following an era of "do more, earn more," the health-care industry, including physicians and hospitals, has been faced with cost-containment measures. With this in mind, the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) embarked on a laboratory consolidation initiative to achieve this objective in 1985. The DMC entered into a partnership with Damon Clinical Laboratories, forming Damon Clinical Laboratories at the Detroit Medical Center. This partnership resulted in the consolidation of laboratory services within the DMC and the establishment of an outreach activity. In December 1992, it was decided that the partnership would be dissolved, with the DMC assuming full ownership and responsibility for the management of laboratory services. Thus, DMC University Laboratories was created and is currently in its third year of operation. This article presents how the decision to consolidate laboratory services within the DMC was made, along with the process and outcomes of consolidating the operations of seven hospital laboratories.