The Kindness Cancer Center Laboratory (KCCL) monitors productivity in the laboratory based on benchmarks set up using a 2-year study. The productivity monitoring team became concerned as they observed in the blood bank department both the cost per reportable test (CPRT) and the labor minutes per reportable test (LM/RT) have gradually increased over the last 3 months, with a 20% increase in July. Fearful this might be a trend, management asked the blood bank department to identify the cause and come up with solutions. The KCCL Blood Bank developed an inclusive team and decided to do a Fishbone Analysis.
An example of a Fishbone Diagram (with analysis) follows.