Reference Laboratory Testing for Neurologic Disorders

A Zara Herskovits; Loren J Joseph

doi:10.1016/j.cll.2020.05.006

Reference Laboratory Testing for Neurologic Disorders

Clin Lab Med. 2020 Sep;40(3):317-329. doi: 10.1016/j.cll.2020.05.006. Epub 2020 Jul 9.

Authors

A Zara Herskovits¹, Loren J Joseph²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

PMID: 32718502
DOI: 10.1016/j.cll.2020.05.006

Abstract

Laboratory testing plays a critical role in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with neurologic disorders. Although common tests are often performed in a central hospital laboratory, an increasing number of essential but esoteric tests are performed at reference laboratories or other outside health care facilities. In this article, we analyze recent trends in neurologic disease testing within the overall context of reference laboratory testing and discuss strategies to facilitate the provision of high-quality, cost-effective laboratory services.

Keywords: Cost containment; Laboratory testing; Neurologic diseases; Send-out tests; Utilization review.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Clinical Laboratory Techniques* / economics
Clinical Laboratory Techniques* / standards
Clinical Laboratory Techniques* / statistics & numerical data
Cost Control
Humans
Laboratories, Hospital / standards*
Nervous System Diseases / diagnosis*
Utilization Review