Laboratory reengineering facilitates cost management.

In 1993, The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston undertook a change management initiative to achieve a more cost-competitive position in its market and become a more attractive partner for a possible future affiliation with another provider organization. A key element of this change process was a reorganization of the medical center's laboratory department. Through consolidation of MUSC's separate laboratories and the introduction of a new, more efficient chemistry analyzer system, the medical center realized annual laboratory savings of approximately $1.3 million.