Laboratory standardization can mean different things to different people, but almost everyone in healthcare can attest to its advantages. When a laboratory's processes are standardized, most organizations see measurable improvements in testing quality and efficiency, and those gains then carry over to patient care in the form of lower costs and better outcomes. Here's a look at what standardization entails—and a few of the many key benefits it creates.
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Current practices and challenges in the standardization and harmonization of clinical laboratory tests
By Hubert W. Vesper, Gary L. Myers, and W. Greg Miller
Clinical laboratory measurements are used to identify individuals with diseases or those at increased risk of disease, guide treatment decisions, monitor the success of treatment, and assess the risk of disease recurrence.
Lab Standardization in the Era of Big Healthcare Networks
By Elsie Yu, PhD, DABCC, FACB
Consolidation has been the name of the game in recent years in U.S. hospitals and health systems, with healthcare networks becoming ever larger and geographically dispersed.
Quantifying the Benefits of Standardizing on LIMS
By Catherine Brown
The marked trend by organizations toward standardizing on critical information technology (IT) systems and applications has now moved into the laboratory environment.