Dr. Ashwood on Utilization management
In an interview with Cap Today, Edward Ashwood, MD, focuses on utilization management and the questions physicians should ask themselves before they order a lab test. Once seen as a cost-driven exercise, lab-test management has emerged as an effective way to not only manage costs but improve patient outcomes. According to Dr. Ashwood, it's not about how many tests a physician orders but about whether he/she orders the correct test. ARUP has found that clients can save 10 percent of their send-out costs by identifying over-, under-, and misutilization of laboratory tests as identified by ATOP®, ARUP's test-analysis tool.
- Whether testing is ill-timed or over- or underused—or just wrong for a patient’s condition—the results are the same: Delayed or missed diagnoses and a cascade of additional testing and costs.
That’s where managing the use of lab tests enters the picture.
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(Cap Today. “Order Patrol—How to Rein in Test Requests.” January 2007.)