In hospital environments, lab specialists should participate in meetings with other departments to determine which and how many tests are appropriate for each patient. Laboratorians, the “resident experts" in these discussions, can weigh in on the ordering of duplicate or obsolete tests.
Lab managers should work with IT specialists to close the gap on the 5% of lab tests that are never retrieved by healthcare practitioners. Failure to retrieve results not only undermines evidence-based care and implementation of informed treatment plans, but also increases labor required for retesting. Automated alerts ensure that physicians check the status of every ordered test. Additionally, systems that flag duplicate, unnecessary, inappropriate, or expensive orders save time, effort, and money.
Labs burdened by equipment downtime, high rerun rates, and manual processes need to consider how automation can help. A properly automated lab optimizes the use of personnel and equipment, improves safety, and reallocates staff resources to focus on abnormal or critical results. Close observation of what's not working in the lab—bottlenecks or nonstandard practices, for example—will reveal opportunities for improvement.
Labs should also be open to new strategies with potential to deliver higher value to the institution as a whole. For instance, diagnostic management teams– comprised of experts who provide advice about lab tests and interpret results—can help a health system save millions of dollars in pharmacy costs. On a smaller scale, development of standardized lab protocols will aid in areas such as consistently selecting the right tests, providing more accurate results, and generally streamlining operations.
CMS 2018 PAMA Pricing Cut for Lab Tests Deeper Than Prior Estimate; Advanced Dx Lab Tests Fare Well
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PAMA pricing went live on January 1st, 2018 and CMS expects the new fee structure will save $3.93 billion over the next decade. What can labs expect as a result of this seismic shift in pricing?
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PAMA issued a blow to laboratories across the county. In this article, the author presents keep considerations and actions every lab should take to move forward.