2nd Annual Lab Quality Confab
September 24-25, 2008 | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta Hilton

Agenda & Program Guide:
Confirmed Sessions & Presenters as of 7/11/08

Lab Space Planning and Facilities: How to Apply Lean to Your Lab before You Call the Architect and Contractor
Wayne Mercer, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, Chi Solutions, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI

So You Think You Want to Be a Black Belt? Here's the Real Scoop on What You Should Know!
Norka Saldana, Sr. Ph.D., Senior Consultant, Master Black Belt, ValuMetrix Services, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ

Striking the Balance Between Lean and Automation Solutions To Maximize Gains and Productivity
Allen A. Wozniak, Sr., Senior Laboratory Solutions Consultant, Sysmex Corporation, Mundelein, IL

Case Study: Using Lean and Six Sigma to Advance Integrated Care in the Hospital
Tom M. Petterson, Ph.D., Head of Development, Capio Diagnostics/Unilabs, St Görans Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Why Automation Bollixed Efficient Workflow in Microbiology and How Lean Fixed It
Scott Henwick, M.D., Deputy Medical Director, BC Biomedical Laboratories, Surrey, BC

Kiazen Event Project Transforms Lab Outreach Intake and Accessioning
Tom Hassett, Vice President, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC
Organize Yourself & Organize Your Office! Using Lean in your Personal Workspace
Caroline Ambrose, Managing Consultant, Ascendium Consulting, Indianapolis, IN

Multi-hospital Regional Public Hospital Laboratory Network Uses Lean/Six Sigma to Create Substantial Gains
Ken Worth, Divisional Manager, PaLMS Administration, St. Leonards, NWS, Australia
Putting the Power of Lean to Work in Blood Donor Collections at the Red Cross
Rick Panning, CEO, Red Cross of St. Paul, St. Paul, MN

Deep Data Mining for Operational Excellence
Rob Albert, Northwest Regional Vice President, Dynacare-Laboratory Corporation of America, Seattle, WA

Combining Lean Methods with Activity-Based Costing to Target Major Gains
David Ricketts, Laboratory Manager, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, London, England

Using Small Improvement Projects to Generate Big Gains at ARUP
Bonnie Messinger, CPHQ, Quality Manager, ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT

Engaging Employees to Embrace Lean and Energizing their Creativity
Mark Graban, Senior Consultant, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ

Establishing the Right Baseline Metrics before Starting a Lean/Six Sigma Project
Patrick Maul, Principal Consultant, BD Diagnostics Healthcare Consulting, Franklin Lakes, NJ

Secrets of Engaging Staff to Create and Sustaining Use of Standard Work Flow in the Lab
Leslie Sprick, Managing Member, Sue Stegall, Managing Member, Sprick, Stegall & Associates, Charlotte, NC

Leadership to Make Lean Happen in Hospitals, Labs, and Pathology Groups
Richard J. Zarbo, M.D., Senior Vice President for Pathology and Laboratory, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI

Showcase of Excellence: Building Winning Interdisciplinary Lean Teams with Lab, ER, OR, Pharmacy, and Radiology
Trent Ritzenthaler, President & Managing Director, Ascendium Consulting, Indianapolis, IN

Why You Can't Get Accurate Real Time Data from your LIS—and How to Fix That Problem!
Richard A. Ouellette, President & CEO, Management Decision Systems, Inc., Holden, MA

CSLI on ISO internationally and efforts to bring African Labs up to Speed?
Glen Fine, Executive Vice President, Chief Staff Officer, Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute, Wayne, PA

Quality Systems and their Relationship to Proficiency Testing
Michael Noble, M.D., Ph.D., Chair, Program Office for Lab Quality Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Using Small Batch/Single Piece Work Flow in Lab Billing/Collections at PAML
Mark LaVoie, Director of Billing Operations, Pathology Associates Medical Laboratory, Spokane, WA

Using Automation, Middleware, and Digital Imaging to Transform Hematology Workflow and Outcomes
Laurie Emanuel, Automation Supervisor, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

Transforming Turnaround Times for Early Morning Testing Across Multiple Hospitals
Joyce Hain, Laboratory Administrative Director, Laboratory Science of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ; Cindy Gruben, Administrative Laboratory Director, Banner Desert Medical Center & Banner Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ

Lean in Lab Design: Going from Department Boxes to Open Lab Work Flow
Peter Marone, Director, Laboratory Services, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT; Vassilios I. Nicolaou, Vice President, Laboratory Architect, Karlsberger Laboratory & Technology Group, Birmingham, AL

Powerful Ways to Apply Lean and Automation in Histology
Leo Serrano, Director of Laboratory Services, Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, Sioux Falls, SD

Potent Lessons in Sustaining Lean in the Clinical Laboratory
Vince D’Mello, Administrative Director, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON

Big Wins with Rapid Process Improvement at Mayo Medical Labs
Dino Kasdagly, Chief Operating Officer, Mayo Collaborative Services, Inc. Rochester, MN

Extracting the Important Lessons from the Second Annual Lab Quality Confab
Robert Michel, Editor-in-Chief, THE DARK REPORT, Spicewood, TX

Optional Workshops for Friday, September 26, 2008 (Attendees must pre-register for these workshops)

Lean Boot Camp: Achieving Mastery with Concepts, Implementation, and Outcomes
Trent Ritzenthaler, President & Managing Director, Anne Daley, Senior Managing Consultant, Ascendium Consulting, Indianapolis, IN

Attacking Pre-Analytical with all the Lean/Six Sigma Methods: Secrets of Improving Specimen Collection, Transport, Accessioning, and Specimen Preparation
Susan Stegall, Managing Member; and, Leslie Sprick, Managing Member, Sprick, Stegall & Associates LLC, Charlotte, NC