STAT turnaround time: Satellite and point-to-point testing

In late 1993, we decentralized critical care and emergency room (ER) laboratory testing services at our institution. An institutional policy that limits patients' total length of stay in the ER to 4 hours prompted this change, as did continued complaints about the lengthy therapeutic STAT turnaround time (STAT TAT) for all critical care testing. Our goal was to decrease therapeutic STAT TAT by simultaneous intervention in the laboratory and nonlaboratory areas. To address the laboratory component, we decreased the laboratory STAT TAT from 1 hour to 45 minutes with an acceptable performance target for the ER greater than 95%. We improved the critical care unit (CCU) testing services by implementing satellite laboratories. Respiratory therapists now perform testing in the new satellite laboratories under the supervision of medical technologists. Recent review of quality assurance data showed an average TAT in the ER of less than 45 minutes and an average TAT in the CCU of less than 5 minutes (ULTRA-STAT) or less than 10 minutes (STAT), with acceptable performance greater than 98%.