title: Estimating costs and turnaround times: presenting a user-friendly tool for analyzing costs and performance.
abstract: A review of the literature finds wide variation in the costs and turnaround times associated with central laboratories, satellite laboratories, and point-of-care testing. The greatest variation occurs when comparing options for blood gas and electrolyte testing. Some variation can be attributed to costing methods, but substantial variation arises from circumstances under which testing is undertaken in specific sites. These circumstances include the site-specific costs of resources used in testing, volumes of testing conducted, and performance requirements demanded by the users of laboratory information.
authors.affiliation: RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, CA, USA.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kilgore
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Steindel
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000407:Alabama; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002497:Centralized Hospital Services / Q000191:economics; D003361:Cost Allocation / Q000379:methods*; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006302:Health Services Research; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D008330:Management Audit / Q000379:methods; D017059:Models, Econometric; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000191:economics; D013996:Time and Motion Studies