Explain the “Big Picture"
Too often, notes Michael Broyles, BSPharm, RPh, PharmD, director of pharmacy and laboratory services at Five Rivers Medical Center in Pocahontas, Arkansas, C-suite committee members fail to look at ABS as something that can benefit the entire organization. “They tend to think in terms of silos," he says, focusing on the laboratory and its budget, for instance, or pharmacy's budget and its implications. “It's very easy for the C-suite to say, 'Okay, your budget is thus, and so you're spending more money than we allocated.'"
The laboratory should make it clear to C-suite members that ABS isn't something that can be separated by department, suggests Dr. Broyles. “The thing that we need to consider, most importantly, is to work together as a team." Show the C-suite how that new initiative will affect “total outcomes for all patients," or how it will lead to savings across the health system. “Make them aware of things that they might not be aware of."
Do It with Data
Nam Tran, PhD, MS, MAS, HCLD (ABB), FACB, associate professor of clinical pathology and director of clinical chemistry, special chemistry/toxicology, and point-of- care (POC) testing at UC Davis, agrees that it's important to explain to the C-suite how anything you want to do as a lab will impact your organization as a whole. But don't just tell them how that a new ABS tool is going to work, or how a new initiative will help the bottom line. Instead, Dr. Tran says, use data to make your points. “I feel like data speaks for itself. I could spend hours upon hours talking about how this new biomarker is going to be amazing or this new device [will] be fantastic, but it's just another commercial for them—another division trying to get funding for another toy."
Dr. Tran believes the laboratory has three “powerful strengths" it can apply in its position on the ABS committee: data from clinical trials and other research, the technology required to conduct the necessary tests, and the “know-how" that comes with being experts in the field. Use those strengths to your advantage, he recommends, and in all likelihood the C-suite will offer you its support.