Il controllo della spesa nel laboratorio clinico: dall’emergenza dei tagli alla creazione di modelli di risparmio basati sul miglioramento delle cure

AUTORI

ABSTRACT

Expenditure control in clinical laboratories: from urgent cuts to creation of models to save costs based on the improvement of patient outcome

The pressure for expenditure containment and the progressive reduction in available healthcare resources has led to abrupt cuts in hospital budgets, generating, in turn, downsized operations in the provision of medical services, including laboratory ones. These short term strategies are oriented by policy maker and health care manager purposes often neglecting appropriateness, effectiveness, quality improvement and, ultimately, impact on patient outcome. With the objective to reduce costs, diagnostic products are evaluated by the key criterion of ‘cost-per-test’, like buying household consumables, e.g. soaps, towels, etc. In this way, healthcare managers aim to downsize expenditures very quickly, with the assumption of no apparent negative impact on patient outcome. There is a need to introduce new rules, criteria and indicators to favor a quality-oriented selection. Industry competitors on the market should present not only a project specifically tailored to the laboratory organization, but also a well-structured strategic plan. This would facilitate laboratory professionals in evaluating the industry ability to share goals, responsibilities and management with a clinical laboratory organization, ensuring the best efficiency, effectiveness and cost savings. Of course, this should happen with a contemporaneous improvement in the expertise of clinical laboratory professionals.

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