open access: When Less Is More for Patients in Laboratory Testing

 American Journal of Clinical Pathology

When Less Is More for Patients in Laboratory Testing

1. Lee H. Hilborne, MD, MPH, FASCP, DLM (ASCP)CM

+ Author Affiliations

1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles; RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA; and Quest Diagnostics, West Hills, CA

In the quest to improve quality health care and reduce unnecessary and wasteful costs, pathologists and laboratory professionals must always consider patients first. In the laboratory, diagnostic tests are one of our crucial links to patients. Although the analytic quality of a test is important, there must also be a medical reason to justify why a particular test is being ordered and how the results will contribute to effectively guiding patient management. Why is this test necessary for this patient? Are there equal or better alternatives to consider?........