Una rilettura di “Funzione e compiti del laboratorio nell’ospedale moderno” a 40 anni di distanza

AUTORI

ABSTRACT

Re-reading the Ceriotti’s paper 40 years later

In 1972, the opening lecture of the SIBioC Congress by Giovanni Ceriotti and Carlo Riga recognized two main missions of the clinical laboratory: its role in assuring a valuable diagnostic-therapeutic process and the need to improve the scientific knowledge for achieving a more effective clinical practice. In the same document, the Authors identified the main duties of laboratory professionals, ranging from the choice of analytical methods and their automation to the clinical advice on test request and result interpretation. In the same year, George Lundberg described the “brain-to-brain loop” concept that basically identified all pre-, intra- and post-analytical steps of the total testing process, stressing the need of assuring quality and safety in every step for finally achieving satisfactory clinical outcomes. The changing face of clinical laboratories due to the impressive advancement in analytical techniques, automation and informatics has led to a dramatic switch of the role and duties of laboratory professionals from diagnostic operators to designers of diagnostic operations. However, it is still debatable how laboratorians may better translate into clinical practice the innovation due to technological and scientific developments to assure a more visible and reliable appreciation of their role in the modern healthcare system.

BIBLIOGRAFIA