Method of Preventing Unnecessary Tests in a Clinical Laboratory

Abstract

Background: In countries where health services are free, laboratory test costs are increasing. New software methods for preventing unnecessary tests without obstructing the test orders can provi-de significant savings. The aim of this study was to detect unnecessary test amounts that were prevented for 2 years with algorithms defined in intelligent laboratory software.
Materials and Methods: AlinIQ (Abbott, USA) software has been defined algorithms that detect and cancel unnecessary tests without preventing clinicians from ordering. The prevented quanti-ties of five different laboratory tests (direct bilirubin, chlorine, AST, fPSA and fT3), which were requested from January 2018 to January 2020, were calculated. It was compared with the proporti-onal amounts of the same tests that were performed between January 2016 and January 2018, which were studied without software.
Results: Algorithms prevented 261540 AST, 174096 direct bilirubin, 135373 chlorine, 27486 FT3, 1160 free PSA. A total of 599656 tests were saved in 2 years.
Conclusions: In this study, defined algorithms successfully prevented unnecessary tests. Any clinical laboratory can use these simple algorithms and adapt it for other tests. Millions of dollars can be saved by using intelligent laboratory software in clinical laboratories.

Keywords:

Keywords

• Test preventing
• AlinIQ
• Algorithm
• Unnecessary test
• Test preventing, AlinIQ, Algorithm, Unnecessary test

Klinik Laboratuvarda Gereksiz Testleri Önleme Yöntemi

Abstract

Amaç: Sağlık hizmetlerinin ücretsiz olduğu ülkelerde laboratuvar test maliyetleri artmaktadır. Test sıralarını engellemeden gereksiz testleri önlemek için yeni yazılım yöntemleri önemli tasarruflar sağlayabilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, akıllı laboratuvar yazılımlarında tanımlanan algoritmalar ile 2 yıl boyunca engellenen gereksiz test miktarlarının tespit edilmesidir. Materyal ve Metod: Algin IQ (Abbott, USA) yazılımı, klinisyenlerin sipariş vermesini engellemeden gereksiz testleri tespit eden ve iptal eden algoritmalar tanımlamıştır. Ocak 2018'den Ocak 2020'ye kadar istenen beş farklı laboratuvar testinin (direkt bilirubin, klor, AST, serbest PSA ve serbest T3) engellenen miktarları hesaplandı. Ocak 2016 ile Ocak 2018 arasında çalışılan aynı testlerin yazılımsız çalışılan oransal miktarları ile karşılaştırılmıştır. Bulgular: Algoritmalar 261540 AST, 174096 direkt bilirubin, 135373 klor, 27486 serbest T3, 1160 serbest PSA'yı engelledi. 2 yılda toplam 599656 test daha az tüketildi. Sonuç: Bu çalışmada tanımlanan algoritmalar, gereksiz testleri başarıyla engellemiştir. Herhangi bir klinik laboratuvar bu basit algoritmaları kullanabilir ve diğer testler için uyarlayabilir. Klinik laboratuvarlarda akıllı laboratuvar yazılımları kullanılarak milyonlarca dolar tasarruf edilebilir.

Keywords

• Test önleme
• ALIN IQ
• algoritma
• gereksiz test

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