ABSTRACT
The economic situation faced by laboratories in the US is less than ideal. Inflation/interest rates are in the area of 10 to 20% per year, reimbursement policies are putting pressures on the laboratories, hospitals are in a cost-containment mode in the best of cases, and in the worst, are closing for a lack of funds. In light of the economic situation, it might be desirable to strive for decreasing the cost by increasing the volume of existing laboratory tests. However, the trends toward an expansion of laboratory tests make volume testing difficult and fractious. There is an underlying factor pushing laboratory testing in the direction of adding new tests. The rate of discovery is escalating and there are more new tests available. In maximizing the efficiency of daily activities, maximizing the workload is the most likely source of improvement for the minimum cost.
