Laboratory personnel changes in the Pacific Northwest, 1995 and 1997

To identify changes in the number and background of laboratory personnel an d their impact on the practices of diagnostic testing laboratories (particu larly their attention to laboratory-testing quality), we surveyed a network of clinical laboratories in the Pacific Northwest during April 1997. We se nt questionnaires to 436 Laboratory Medicine Sentinel Monitoring Network pa rticipants, of which 323 responded. No significant changes in the number of laboratory full-time equivalents occurred between 1995 and 1997. More labo ratories experienced an increase in the number of testing and support perso nnel vs a decrease. No significant changes in the mix of professional backg round of testing personnel were apparent. We found no evidence that medical technologists and medical laboratory technicians had been replaced by indi viduals from different backgrounds.