Consultant Biographies
Martha H. Robbins
Martha Robbins has over 20 years of professional experience in operational management of hospital and independent reference laboratories, where she served as a hospital department manager and as a commercial laboratory operations manager. Until starting her own firm in 1996, she directed the national Laboratory Consulting Practice for Coopers & Lybrand, L.L.P., a position she held for twelve years. She has published numerous articles on laboratory strategy and planning and is a frequent speaker on these issues. Martha is credentialed by the American Association of Healthcare Consultants.
Experience
- Developed laboratory functional space and facility programs for freestanding commercial laboratories, public health laboratories, and hospital laboratories ranging from 150-800 beds. These projects typically include an assessment of the laboratory's strategic plan to ensure that strategies and facility space appropriately positions the department to meet future opportunities and needs.
- Developed laboratory consolidation plans for numerous hospitals, academic medical centers, and commercial laboratories. These engagements identify the potential for reducing costs and enhancing marketing capability, project staffing, define operational restructuring, facility issues, and revenue and expense, and assist the participants in the political issues involved with restructuring.
- Directed long and short term strategic planning efforts for community hospital and academic medical center laboratories, commercial laboratories, and blood centers, focusing on resource optimization, cost reduction, market positioning, and strategies to meet managed care initiatives.
- Directed many operational reviews to assess the overall effectiveness of laboratory operations for academic medical centers, community hospitals, pediatric facilities, independent reference laboratories, and rural health care facilities.
- Developed marketing programs for managed care and other outreach laboratory services. Market assessment included SWOT and competitor analyses, identification of existing and potential markets, identification of excess capacity, operational requirements including specimen retention and tracking systems, courier services, information systems, etc.
- Assisted hospitals in contracting for laboratory services, developing requests for proposal for contract services, assisting in evaluation of responses, and identifying related cost/quality of care issues.
- Assisted hospital administration and pathologist staff in negotiating pathologist contracts, recommending appropriate organizational structure, distribution of responsibilities, and compensation.
- Performed post-integration assessments of merged laboratories to optimize organizational structure, enhance operational effectiveness, and document achieved cost savings.
Education
- BS, Microbiology, Purdue University
- Graduate work, Northwestern University Medical School
- Registered Medical Technologist, American Society of Clinical Pathologists
Professional Affiliations
- American Association for Clinical Chemistry
- Clinical Laboratory Management Association
- American Association of Healthcare Consultants
Dorothy L. Miller
Dottie Miller has over 25 years of professional experience in sales and management of hospital and independent laboratories. Her most recent position was Vice President and General Manager for the MidAtlantic Region with SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories. She has also managed hospital laboratories and performed hospital laboratory reviews as a consultant.
Experience
- Provided strategic planning services to numerous community hospitals and academic medical centers, including preparation of laboratory business plans, determining key business drivers, and establishing measurements to evaluate the plan's success
- Conducted many operational efficiency studies including audits of laboratory work-flow, establishing best practices in purchasing and operations, reviewing staffing patterns, and establishing productivity measurements
- Assisted hospital laboratories in development of laboratory sales and marketing skills through establishment of a sales organization, training of staff, determination of sales focus through market segmentation, development of the process to target key customers, and development of value pricing for a "commodity" market.
- Worked with numerous hospitals and academic centers in developing and expanding their laboratory outreach programs, including identification of strategic merger / acquisition opportunities, development of process to integrate organizations, and negotiation for local and regional managed care contracts.
Education
- BS, MBA University of Pennsylvania
- MS, Lehigh University
Professional Affiliations
- Clinical Laboratory Management Association
Maria A. Martel
Ms. Martel has over 17 years of experience as a hospital laboratory director, managing all aspects of the daily operations of hospital laboratories and a hospital-based reference laboratory; she then worked as a consultant in Coopers & Lybrand's Integrated Health Care Consulting Services Practice. Her broad based understanding of hospital and laboratory operations has contributed to long- and short-term solutions to operational and administrative problems, leading to increased efficiencies and reduced costs. She has published several articles on laboratory management and operational strategies and has spoken at several national professional conferences.
Experience
- Currently working to integrate the outreach operations of four regional hospital laboratories that are part of a national healthcare system. This process includes analyzing and revising logistics and work flow of specimen processing, phlebotomy, and courier activities; assessing and improving service levels; enhancing operations to meet productivity goals; developing a standardized database, reference ranges, requisition formats; improving the processes of all client services including registration and billing (Sunquest LIS and HBOC).
- Developed laboratory model options for several hospital systems. Worked with steering committees and senior hospital management to establish strategic direction for laboratory services. These projects identified numerous cost savings, operational enhancements and revenue opportunities for the participating facilities.
- Assisted a large architectural firm in a feasibility study to consolidate and relocate the laboratory services of a large, prestigious west coast academic medical center and its affiliated hospitals and clinics to an off-site facility. Performed an analysis of the potential opportunities presented by the reconfiguration and relocation of services provided by the laboratory department.
- Performed operational reviews to assess the overall effectiveness of laboratory operations for academic medical centers, independent reference laboratories and community hospitals. These projects identify the potential for cost reduction, more efficient utilization of resources, enhancement of Outreach programs, and facility issues.
- Served as Project Manager several laboratory consolidation projects. These engagements included the development of a detailed transition (implementation) plan outlining all aspects of operational changes, facility renovations, outreach marketing strategies, and internal/external communications. Each step was tracked through to completion within the designated timeframe resulting in a successful implementation.
- Conducted interviews of laboratory users (physicians, nursing, outreach clients) at several community hospitals to assess perception of current service and identify areas of dissatisfaction; worked with laboratory management to develop a plan to restructure operations and enhance services to meet and/or exceed user expectations.
- Performed several assessments of the feasibility of consolidating laboratory services among hospitals. These assessments identify the potential for enhancing marketing capability and decreasing costs, project staffing, revenue and expense, and assist the participants in the political and legal issues involved in restructuring.
Education
- BS, Medical Technology, D'Youville College
- Registered Medical Technologist, American Society of Clinical Pathologists
Professional Affiliations
- Clinical Laboratory Management Association
