Stratec launches software specialized in strategic management of clinical and pathological analysis laboratories.
Many laboratories struggle with a lack of time to invest in strategic management, envision various improvements but are unable to implement them, and need to increase their business efficiency in a highly competitive market with ever-shrinking margins. Effective management and active monitoring of strategic objectives and indicators in laboratories is an effective way to anticipate problems and forecast business risks, which allows managers to make decisions with greater confidence. With this in mind, Stratec, in partnership with SBPC – the Brazilian Society of Clinical Pathology – have just launched the Stratec Laboratories.
The software will provide the manager with a clear view of achieved goals, allowing action plans to correct any deviations to be proposed, systematized, and easily monitored. It will also enable well-structured and systematized critical analysis meetings when the agenda concerns laboratory performance.
Paula Távora, president of SBPC, explains that the partnership between the scientific society and Stratec initially arose from internal SBPC matters but ended up yielding results that can benefit many other clinical analysis and laboratory institutions. “Seven years ago, we began conceiving a project to create a management model where we could carry out work with continuity, without being limited to the current presidency. And a model we saw as viable is strategic planning with goal control. We started looking for a tool that could help us and go beyond ISO 9000 certification,” she reveals. Paula was already familiar with Stratec's management software used at Vila da Serra hospital and had received good feedback from the Hermes Pardini laboratory network. “So I recommended Stratec's software to SBPC. I saw that in the market, it was the system with the most experience within the portfolio of clinical analysis laboratories” it tells.
According to Paula, it was at the meeting to present the software for SBPC management that a very interesting partnership idea was born: the possibility of offering a laboratory management system within Brazil's clinical and pathological analysis network. “The more organized these institutions are, the better for the market,” she comments.
Luciana Barbosa, a consultant from Stratec, states that the need to create specific software for managing this sector was identified through firsthand experience in laboratories and the perception that managers, often split between so many routines, find themselves with no time to focus on management. “As a result, they are unable to think about growth strategies, and when they do, they often don't implement them,” she says.
Through the Stratec Laboratories, the manager will have access to the management system with a strategic map, proposed objectives and performance indicators, based on extensive knowledge of the laboratory medicine sector, and can manage information through methodologies validated by the market such as Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and PDCA, which are also compliant with accreditation requirements. The software acts as support to automate practice, providing visibility to business and operational performance.
Luciana expects the product to provide subsidies for managers to make sound decisions more quickly, having information for taking action on any deviations related to the institution's strategic objectives. “It is expected that laboratories will be prepared for possible external evaluations regarding company management, having the conditions to present the achievement of strategic objectives at all laboratory levels effectively and with a methodology for cascading into goals and indicators,” she says. According to the consultant, having a clear view of the results achieved in relation to the goals allows for quick actions to correct deviations in a systematic way and with the possibility of structuring meetings for performance monitoring.
And the best part is that the product is suitable for any laboratory, regardless of its size. “The methodology adopted and the software are compatible with any size laboratory. Regardless of the number of employees or the number of tests performed. All you need is the data for the software to be fed,” Luciana adds.
Paula adds that the first thing to be done in laboratory analysis institutions is educational work, although she believes that the clinical analysis sector, within diagnostic medicine, is one of the most organized. “The management model is a cultural transition. It's not enough to be a manager; you need a tool to help in this process and ensure goals are met. Certainly, the more structured and well-managed an institution is, the more prosperous it is. We are rooting for it to work, as we believe it's a good path for laboratory institutions,” celebrates the president of SBPC.
