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Optimal Utilization of Laboratory Testing



Bleeding Time3

Slide 8

November 2011

Bleeding time is a quintessential example of a test that has a lot of good literature support to discontinue its use. It's best to eliminate the test completely and not substitute another test. And we believe this will work if you have a least some integration in your medical practice. If you are a completely unintegrated practice it can be quite difficult.

Now, we want to evaluate the use of the test based on the literature. Is it appropriate and useful? And this can be a role of laboratorians, medical directors, pathologists, and scientists. We want to provide education and the rational for eliminating the test. Keep in mind your early adopters. And you want to observe the ordering patterns. The ordering patterns of your physicians on your staff will let you know who the biggest users of the test are. And we would like to eliminate the test but provide assistance as needed. In our particular practice we eliminated a bleeding time but we first gave our medical staff a lot of lead time so that they would know by a certain date the test would be eliminated. We provided the rational and we also let them know that we would have questions to ask for the clinical exam and for clinical questions to ask in lieu of the bleeding time.

Bleeding Time3
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