Establishment of a central laboratory serum tumor marker service on a consolidated immunodiagnostic platform: development of practice standards, service improvements, and operational efficiency.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Laboratory testing for serum tumor markers traditionally has been performed in low volume in most hospitals. Many markers are sent out to reference laboratories. Over the past decade, serum tumor marker testing in patient management has become more defined, resulting in increasing test volume and wider availability of assays on automated immunodiagnostic platforms. METHODS: A retrospective review of laboratory operations, test volumes, and budgets over a 10-year period. Results of utilization initiatives as part of a clinical practice management team also were reviewed. RESULTS: The volume of serum tumor marker requests in our institution increased 2.25-fold over an 8-year period. In contrast, total laboratory test volume increased only 1.3-fold. Implementation of an on-site tumor marker laboratory using a consolidated platform (Elecsys 2010) decreased the average unit cost per test from