Abstract
Among the many factors influencing the growth of the clinical laboratory workload, an increase in number of patients, more seriously ill patients, and additional testing to support more rational care decisions can be expected to lead to medically appropriate workload growth. Using existing hospital data bases we show that much of the growth in diagnostic testing over a nine-year period in one hospital setting appears appropriate, while a large portion of the increase in tests used for patient monitoring cannot be explained in this manner. Existing computer-based information systems, though not ideal, can serve as a useful adjunct to the study of laboratory utilization.
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Selected References
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