Clinical Decisions and Laboratory Use

As the national expenditure for health care continues to mount, pressures from within and outside of medicine are encouraging more effective and economical use of medical resources. Though much of the current attention is focused on a few high-cost, technologically dramatic procedures, the rapidly growing use of laboratory tests makes up a substantial portion of heal care costs. Evidence suggests that a significant amount of laboratory use is ineffective and unnecessary and could be eliminated with no harmful effects on the quality of care. This book, which is based on the Conference on Clinical Decision Making and Laboratory Use held at the University of Minnesota in 1980, focuses on the problems faced by health care professionals as they attempt to control laboratory costs and suggests ways of making rational and effective decisions. The 32 chapters deal with the following topics: Medical Decisions, Technology, and Social Needs; The Process of Clinical Decision Making; Clinical Decisions and the Clinical Laboratory; Medical Education and Effective Laboratory Use; Tools for Supporting the Decision-Making Process; and Research Initiatives Toward Effective Decision Making and Laboratory Use. Physicians, clinic and hospital administrators, laboratory directors, and health care planners will find this book a useful source of information in establishing their own procedures for clinical decision making.