Some process improvement methods are more appropriate for a specific situation than another tool would be. In effort to reduce the turnaround time for test results, I would first need to find out the root cause of the long wait times. Discovering the cause of the problems will help me to address the problems that are occurring. I would need to find out if the long wait times are caused by out dated equipment, understaffing in the lab or nursing staff, communication errors between lab and staff, or if additional training is needed. All of these issues can cause the lab to have a slow turnaround time for processing the samples. Without knowing the causes for the delay, the strategy that I would start with is lean. By rethinking the processes and the workflow should help to streamline the steps for completing the tests in an appropriate and accurate manner (Hawkins, 2007). Once the new workflow has been implemented, I would want to follow up to ensure the lab is able to reduce the turnaround time as predicted. If the turnaround time is not improving, then I would want to test the error rate of the lab. By testing the error rate, I would by using the Six Sigma strategy in order to reduce the turnaround time. If the lab is spending additional time testing and retesting samples, then we would need to find a way to reduce the error rate in our testing process. At John Hopkins, the timeliness of test results is very important. William Henry Welch, the father of American Pathology, began his career at John Hopkins (John Hopkins Medical Center, 2015). Due to the number of patients that come to this facility from all over the world, John Hopkins had to make process improvement over the years in order to process all of the samples in a timely manner. The testing process of cultures is ever changing with new technology advancements. They are the current