An approach to studying the cost behavior of changing utilization of a hospital laboratory.
Strategies for cost containment in the clinical laboratory have been proposed and some are being tested. An approach is described and illustrated in this article for estimating the size of a cost reduction that might be observed in response to hypothetical changes in the utilization of the clinical laboratory. The variability of laboratory costs with changing volume is reported as a function of the assumptions made.
D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D007753:Laboratories / Q000191:economics*; D010337:Pathology Department, Hospital / Q000191:economics