TABLE 8.

Cost analysis^a

Cost	Value for:		Cost difference per patientb
	GI panel patients	Historical controls
Mean hospital stay cost ($)	4,160	4,560	−400
Mean radiology costs ($)	12.29	22.96	−10.67
Mean laboratory testing costs ($)c	178.24	61.17	+117.06
Net difference per patient ($)			−293.61

^aEven though in-lab expenses were higher in the GI panel group, these patients had a lower overall health care cost by $293.61 per patient.

^bCost for GI panel patient minus cost for historical control.

^cMean laboratory testing costs include the GI panel ($155) and C. difficile PCR ($40) at the rate of 0.58 tests per patient.