Collaboration between laboratory experts and clinicians could reduce healthcare spending and simultaneously accelerate value-based purchasing, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry recently stated.
While value-based purchasing can improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare spending, low-value tests and screening plagues the industry, according to RevCycleIntellegence.
About 15 percent of healthcare providers admitted they were unsure what tests to give their patients, revealing that almost 21 percent of laboratory test were unnecessary for the patient, according to a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.
Decreasing these low-value services through collaboration between laboratory experts and clinicians could save hospitals billions of dollars, according to RevCycleIntelligence, which cited a 2009 study published in Health Affairs.
"Laboratory medicine experts are uniquely positioned to ensure this is achieved by working with physicians to devise optimal diagnostic and therapeutic protocols, leading to better health outcomes and reduced costs," said AACC CEO Janet Kreizman.