Consolidated clinical microbiology laboratories.
J Clin Microbiol
; 53(5): 1467-72, 2015 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25253793
ABSTRACT
The manner in which medical care is reimbursed in the United States has resulted in significant consolidation in the U.S. health care system. One of the consequences of this has been the development of centralized clinical microbiology laboratories that provide services to patients receiving care in multiple off-site, often remote, locations. Microbiology specimens are unique among clinical specimens in that optimal analysis may require the maintenance of viable organisms. Centralized laboratories may be located hours from patient care settings, and transport conditions need to be such that organism viability can be maintained under a variety of transport conditions. Further, since the provision of rapid results has been shown to enhance patient care, effective and timely means for generating and then reporting the results of clinical microbiology analyses must be in place. In addition, today, increasing numbers of patients are found to have infection caused by pathogens that were either very uncommon in the past or even completely unrecognized. As a result, infectious disease specialists, in particular, are more dependent than ever on access to high-quality diagnostic information from clinical microbiology laboratories. In this point-counterpoint discussion, Robert Sautter, who directs a Charlotte, NC, clinical microbiology laboratory that provides services for a 40-hospital system spread over 3 states in the southeastern United States explains how an integrated clinical microbiology laboratory service has been established in a multihospital system. Richard (Tom) Thomson of the NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL, discusses some of the problems and pitfalls associated with large-scale laboratory consolidation.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Manejo de Espécimes
/
Doenças Transmissíveis
/
Técnicas Microbiológicas
/
Testes Diagnósticos de Rotina
/
Serviços de Laboratório Clínico
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Clin Microbiol
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article