Q&A column
August 2025
Q. We manage multispecialty laboratories in multiple hospital locations. Most of the laboratories function on the traditional model of compartmentalized specialty-based testing units that offer routine and specialized services with their own dedicated space, equipment, and personnel. There is a future plan to establish an offsite centralized referral lab, but to improve operational efficiency and cost savings sooner, management is considering consolidating testing services at each location. What factors should be considered while planning the consolidation, keeping in mind the plan to establish a centralized reference lab? Should the testing services that will eventually be performed in the reference lab be excluded from the current consolidation plan? And how should we manage operations during the transition phase, i.e. once consolidation is completed but prior to the reference lab implementation? Read answer.
Q. We have been discussing supervisory review of test results that are manually entered into our laboratory information system (i.e. a test result not sent via interface from an analyzer or autoverified). Examples are a urine hCG performed on a kit cassette or a manual differential performed on a CBC, entered directly into the LIS by the performing technologist. Do manual test results require supervisory review, or is it only higher-complexity tests (like the differential) performed by a medical laboratory technologist that require such review? If review is required, who can review and what is the recommended time frame? Read answer.