Technological Change and Clinical Laboratory Utilization
Year: 1980
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Many believe that improvement in laboratory automation has been responsible for the considerable growth in the volume of tests that has occurred in recent years. Results are presented from an 8-year national survey of hospital laboratory utilization that show no definitive correlation between technological change and growth in volume of well-established clinical laboratory tests. These results leave room for hypothesizing other major contributory factors to volume increases such as a behavioral change on the part of practitioners who order tests and place increased diagnostic importance on laboratory results in addition to medical histories and physical examinations. If the findings prove correct, successful regulatory strategies for the containment of laboratory costs might be as likely to come from those that directly address practitioners' behavior as from those that limit capacity by requiring prior approval for acquisition of new laboratory equipment.
Source: Medical Care
Author: Stan N. Finkelstein
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2020618620