Molecular approaches to diagnosing and managing infectious diseases: practicality and costs.
As molecular techniques for identifying and detecting microorganisms in the clinical microbiology laboratory have become routine, questions about the cost of these techniques and their contribution to patient care need to be addressed. Molecular diagnosis is most appropriate for infectious agents that are difficult to detect, identify, or test for susceptibility in a timely fashion with conventional methods.
Pfaller
M A
MA
University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. michael-pfaller@uiowa.edu
D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D019468:Disease Management; D017048:Health Care Costs