Re: [Histonet] Productivity Reports
Allison, One KEY to success I have found is to make sure your boss knows what he or she wants, and get an agreement on what you need to report before you start. It can be very frustrating to invest resources in reporting what isn't value added. My problem has always been, that determining ACTUAL productivity reaches outside of the lab if it is to be used to determine something like the labs overall fiscal contribution to the enterprise. If it is simply to measure turn around time for patient cases, that can become a complicated set of time measurements from point to point within the lab, or it can be as simple as IN and OUT, total elapsed time. What works for you should be driven by what is to be accomplished with the productivity report. There are 4 questions I would ask immediately 1. What will the data be used for? (want it to accomplish) 2. What investment is willing to be made in capturing and maintaining data? (cost) 3. Is this a “one-time” measurement? (if this is the case, maybe an informed and educated calculation can be made using existing data. Work flow, billed hours, and patient tracking should point to productivity, however this will have a higher error factor than a measurement controlled within the lab. Payroll, patient billing, or IT should be able to provide this data.) 4. Is this a paradigm shift to capture data on a continuous basis to perform trend analysis to improve the flow of work in an attempt to incorporate six-sigma/lean principles in the lab? (if so, a six-sigma black belt would be a good consultant) Or, again depending on the detail of existing data mentioned earlier, you might be able to set up an ad-hoc report that is issued on a time period that fits your schedule. An error factor can be established and reported with the data each time. MS Excel makes great charts and graphs. This would be an easy way to report specific data applicable to your lab only. I am new to the Histotech field but I have over 20 years in Quality Assurance, I can tell you from experience that sometimes there is more effort put into keeping statistics than they appear to be worth. But, what the boss wants the boss gets. One of my past supervisors used to always say, KEEP IT SIMPLE, and make sure your metrics are *S.M.A.R.T.* *S*pecific *M*easurable *A*ttainable *R*ealistic *T*imely Best of Luck, Rick T. ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] CAP inspection requirements
What are the requirements to become a CAP inspector? Do you have to at least be an actual registered HT/HTL? Is just having a 2 year histotech degree enough? Thanks, Mandy O'Connor, HTL (ASCP) Yellowstone Pathology Instit. Billings, MT ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
Re: [Histonet] CAP inspection requirements
CAP inspectors are your peers. In other words they are people managing other labs. So those people have a variety of degrees or experiences. They don't get paid to inspect. It's a requirement that labs that participate in CAP bi annually inspect another lab because CAP works as a peer review system. I'm sure there are actual paid jobs with CAP but best to look at Their website for those opportunity for job descriptions. Hope this helps. Kim D Sent from my iPhone On May 2, 2012, at 5:58 AM, Mandy O'Connor ama...@ypii.com wrote: What are the requirements to become a CAP inspector? Do you have to at least be an actual registered HT/HTL? Is just having a 2 year histotech degree enough? Thanks, Mandy O'Connor, HTL (ASCP) Yellowstone Pathology Instit. Billings, MT ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] DeCloaking Chamber
Hi, Does anyone know of a delayed start Decloaking chamber that is independent from the IHC stainer? I am looking around to get a new Decloaking chamber. Any suggetions? Karen Heckford HT ASCP CE Lead Histology Technician St. Mary's Medical Center 450 Stanyan St. San Francisco, Ca. 94117 415-668-1000 ext. 6167 karen.heckf...@dignityhealth.org Caution: This email message, including all content and attachments, is CONFIDENTIAL and may be of a nature that is LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. The information contained in this email message is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you have received this document in error. Any further review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by reply email. Thank you. ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] RE: Re: Frozen brains on cryostat
Andrea, A couple of suggestions for you to help with sectioning the brain tissue. If you haven't already adjusted the cryostat temperature that is a place to start. Brains section really well at -10 to -15 C. Make sure to let the blocks equilibrate to the temperature in the cryostat. If you've taken the frozen blocks out of a -70 C freezer, let them sit in the cryostat for at least 20-30 minutes to 'warm up' to the cryostat temperature. At times, I have really good luck getting nice sections when I do the following: 1. Shave (or face off) the block until you're ready to get a section. 2. Using a gloved hand, place your thumb over the tissue for a few seconds. 3. Begin sectioning - discard the first section that comes off, the second section is usually really nice (be ready to use your chilled brush) and gently pull the section toward you as you are moving the wheel (manual instrument). 4. This method can be repeated several times - just be patient. It does take some practice. Finally, if you have any trouble getting the brain sections to stay adhered to the glass slides, depending on the downstream application you may want to try using the Gold Plus Slides (I think they are from Thermo Shandon or maybe Erie Scientific??) These slides are really nice to use when working with brain tissue if you experience 'tissue lifting' during staining applications - but in our experience they can't be used for LCM work. Good Luck! Kristie Christina Thurby Bristol Myers Squibb 812-307-2093 On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Andrea Ferullo (non-Celgene) aferu...@celgene.com wrote: Hello everyone, I recently received rat brain samples that were frozen in liquid nitrogen and embedded in OCT. I sectioned them on the cryostat and they are coming out very wrinkled, no matter what technique I use to pick them up. I would appreciate any tips/tricks that anyone has to offer. Forebrain sections are ok, but mid, hind-brain, and cerebellum are giving me a very hard time. Thanks and I look forward to your advice. Andrea This message (including any attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary, privileged and/or private information. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity designated above. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately, and delete the message and any attachments. Any disclosure, reproduction, distribution or other use of this message or any attachments by an individual or entity other than the intended recipient is prohibited. ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] Grossing chair
Does anybody out there have a grossing chair that they could recommend to us? We're shopping for something that's more amenable to 4 or 5 hour sessions. We're sitting at a Mopec grossing station. Thanks ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
RE: [Histonet] DeCloaking Chamber
Karen I would just purchase a timer to plug the Decloaking chamber into, I use one to heat my water bath for pretreatments prior to by techs coming in. I purchased the timers from Fisher, cat. #666224 for $28.82. Works like a charm. Cindy Cindy Pyse, CLT, HT (ASCP) Laboratory Manager X-Cell Laboratories 716-250-9235 etx. 232 e-mail cp...@x-celllab.com -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Heckford, Karen - SMMC-SF Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 8:22 AM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] DeCloaking Chamber Hi, Does anyone know of a delayed start Decloaking chamber that is independent from the IHC stainer? I am looking around to get a new Decloaking chamber. Any suggetions? Karen Heckford HT ASCP CE Lead Histology Technician St. Mary's Medical Center 450 Stanyan St. San Francisco, Ca. 94117 415-668-1000 ext. 6167 karen.heckf...@dignityhealth.org Caution: This email message, including all content and attachments, is CONFIDENTIAL and may be of a nature that is LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. The information contained in this email message is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you have received this document in error. Any further review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by reply email. Thank you. ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] IMF antibody validation
Hello everyone, I'm branching out into IMF antibodies and as such am starting to validate these antibodies. Previously no comparison studies were done that I know of. Now we're running frozen tissue slides manually with our current set of antibodies simultaneously with new vendors' antibodies being run automated. Since IMF is not permanent, my question to all of you is, are you photographing the slides for a permanent record or just keeping a written record of the comparison results? Any and all responses are welcome. Thanks, Linda Sebree ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] DeCloaking Chamber
Hi, Here are the best steamers on the market... http://www.walmart.com/ip/Black-Decker-7-Quart-Food-Steamer/14320967?findingMethod=rr There are others that will work as well. Use only one layer. The second layer is never as hot as the first. I drill a hole in the top and drop in a thermometer to monitor the temperature in real time. If you spend over $50 on such a product you are getting robbed. Happy shopping, Amos On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 1:01 PM, histonet-requ...@lists.utsouthwestern.eduwrote: Message: 10 Date: Wed, 2 May 2012 05:21:56 -0700 From: Heckford, Karen - SMMC-SF karen.heckf...@dignityhealth.org Subject: [Histonet] DeCloaking Chamber To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Message-ID: 3328693c43a557458850cc37ce16cd1877954...@chw-msg-829.chw.edu Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi, Does anyone know of a delayed start Decloaking chamber that is independent from the IHC stainer? I am looking around to get a new Decloaking chamber. Any suggetions? Karen Heckford HT ASCP CE ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
