Transcription of Laboratory Design for Today's Technologies
1 1997, Med TechNet PresentationsMay 1997 Page 1 Med TechNet Online Services East Amherst, NY May 1997 Laboratory Design for Today s TechnologiesKaren K. Mortland, , MT(ASCP)Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann AssociatesButler, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DCAt a glance .. Design .. for click on the s for a Med TechNet tip!IntroductionRapid advancements in Technologies and methodologieshave rendered many existing labs inefficient. Today'slaboratory managers must consistently monitor theproductivity of their labs to ensure their status as lowestcost provider in their particular health care administrators must do more than respond totoday's competitive circumstances. Laboratories mustbe prepared to adapt to changing market trends new Technologies can substantially alterdemands placed on the Laboratory environment.
2 Physical alterations to the lab, including utilities, oftenaccompany the inclusion of the new Technologies . Flexibility and room for expansion in the floor plan andthe mechanical systems are outpatient services continue to grow, laboratorieshave gained a new visibility as a vital part of health caremarket strategies. A well-designed lab that provides thehealth care community with efficient and state of the artservice is viewed as a tool to attract physicians andHMO's to a Design ProcessThe development of the project team is the primary stepin the Design process. (Figure 1) Each member of theteam has an important role that reflects their expertise. The project manager must be the arbiter, consensusbuilder, organizer, communicator and ultimately thedecision maker.
3 The project manager can be a labmanager, a facilities coordinator, or part of the facilityadministration. Representation from the user groups isARCHITECTE xpert on Lab DesignADMINISTRATIONE xpert on theInstitution's NeedsUSER GROUPE xpert on theLaboratory's NeedsFACILITIES on theBuilding's NeedsPROJECT MANAGERC ommunicatorConcensus BuilderExpeditorENGINEERE xpert on Lab SystemsLaboratory DesignK Mortland 1997, Med TechNet PresentationsMay 1997 Page 2 Figure 1 - The Project TeamProject Design Phases Programming Schematic Design Design Development Construction Documents Bidding and Negotiation ConstructionFigure 2 Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 4necessary to ensure that Laboratory methodologies arefully understood by all team members.
4 Theadministrative and facility members of the teamunderstand the long term goals of the overallorganization, and the limitations imposed by physical andfinancial constraints. The architects and engineers arethe experts in designing laboratories and the associatedsystems. A construction project is organized as five successivestages. Each stage incorporates a goal that must bereached before the project team may advance to the nextstage (Figure 2).The Programming stage is where all issues that willaffect the lab and the facilities are presented andevaluated. The more information that is evaluated in thisphase, the better the new Design will respond to the lab'sneeds. Areas such as equipment, personnel, existingconditions, and finances are used to develop goals forthe project.
5 We have found that an intensive meeting,lasting as much as a week, can provide information,ideas and an understanding between all the Design translates these goals into a floor plan(Figure 3). Movement analysis of specimens, personneland patients need to be incorporated to ensure maximumefficiency in the general layout. A series of meeting toreview the plans are attended by the team members. Once satisfied that these preliminary designs fulfill thestatement of the problem, the project may advance to thenext development is the fleshing out of the schematicdesign (Figure 4). Casework elevations, equipmentdetails, and engineering components are incorporatedinto the floor plan (Figure 5). Minor changes to theinitial Design often result requiring review by the projectteam.
6 It is normally difficult for people to get a feel forLaboratory DesignK Mortland 1997, Med TechNet PresentationsMay 1997 Page 3 Figure 6 Efficiency Functional Relationships Movement Flexibility Accessibility Energy ConsumptionFigure 7 Figure 8the actual space that the drawings are depicting. In themeetings ask the architect to relate sizes and spaces toareas that you know. Completion of designdevelopment completes the problem solving part of theconstruction construction document stage shifts the constructionproject into a technical mode (Figure 6). The drawingsgenerated in the Design development stage are detailedand materials are specified to prepare for architects and engineers are the only part of thedesign team that is involved in this stage.
7 No majordesign changes should occur in this stage . The finaldrawings are considered contracts that must be adheredto by the construction documents are then sent to a selectedlist of contractors for bidding. The contractor will reviewthe documents, contact subcontractors for prices, andtabulate a cost estimate for the project. A date is set forsubmission of these estimates and from these, theowners will select a construction project finally reaches fruition in the last phase;construction. The architects and engineers will act asliaisons between the contractors and the owners. Theywill answer questions, review compliance with theconstruction documents and generate change orders the responsibilities of the variousmembers of a Design team and the milestones that mustbe achieved during the Design project allows everyone tobe organized and efficient.
8 A lack of organization, in themultifaceted Laboratory project, will result in lost detailsand cause immediate and future (See Figure 7)ArchitecturalFunctional relationships are the relationships betweenthe Laboratory and the various areas of the facility thatcan affect patient, personnel and specimen movement. For example, functional relationships often existbetween the Laboratory and emergency, phlebotomy,surgery, and intensive care units. Not only can theserelationships affect the efficiency of the lab and itspersonnel, they can also affect the nature of futureexpansion. An easy way to evaluate these relationshipsis through a bubble diagram (Figure 8). Using visualclues to organize and prioritize relationships the bestlocation and orientation of the lab can be determined.
9 In the same diagram, areas that can support future labexpansion, whether interior or exterior, should evaluation of movement addresses threeinterrelated concerns; patients, personnel, andspecimens. Patient use areas, including phlebotomy,donor areas, waiting and reception, and how they canbest relate to the lab should be discussed. This couldLaboratory DesignK Mortland 1997, Med TechNet PresentationsMay 1997 Page 4 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11include phlebotomy, donor areas, waiting and reception. With the rebirth of the core Laboratory , an open centerThis establishes the separation between the lab andfloor plan with casework situated around the periphery ofthese areas as well as beginning an analysis of personnelthe lab most easily adapts to the inclusion of newmovement with the specimen that has been obtained.
10 Equipment and procedures. As the architectural designFollowing the normal paths that are traveled as personnelprogresses, a balance between the amount ofdo their jobs can show redundancy of movement andpermanently mounted casework versus movableinterferences. The third and most detailed of thecasework must be struck. Micro changes to individualmovement analyses is specimen paths (Figure 9) thisillustration of specimen movement provides visual cluesto aid in the more efficient organization of the lab. In arecent project, in which we were designing a Cytologylaboratory, we used the specimen movement diagram inthe meeting to help the users to relate how they need thespace to be set up. This same group used this method inreorganizing another lab that they had decided to add tothe project.
