Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27493909›Full record

ArticleMedical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran2016

A review on laboratory tests' utilization: A trigger for cutting costs and quality improvement in health care settings.

Zahra Meidani, Mehrdad Farzandipour, Alireza Farrokhian, Masomeh Haghighat

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Zahra MeidaniPhD, Assistant Professor, Health Information Management Research Center, Department of Health Information Management & Technology, School of Allied Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. meydani-za@kaums.ac.ir.
Mehrdad FarzandipourPhD, Associate Professor, Health Information Management Research Center, Department of Health Information Management & Technology, School of Allied Health Professions, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. farzandipour_m@kaums.ac.ir.
Alireza FarrokhianMD, Assistant Professor, Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. farrokhian_ar@kaums.ac.ir.
Masomeh HaghighatMSc of Health Information Technology, Health Information Management Research Center, Department of Health Information Management & Technology, School of Allied Health Professions, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. masome23haghighat@yahoo.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConsidering the role of laboratory tests as a central part of controlling health expenditure, this study intends to investigate laboratory tests overutilization in Iran to pave the way for future interventions.

methodsInappropriate laboratory utilization was reviewed in a cross-sectional survey through the retrospective analysis of 384 medical records at a tertiary center. To pave the way for future intervention, overutilization tests were classified into two categories, inappropriate and inefficient, and then they were analyzed. Frequency analysis was used to analysis patient's age, gender, hospital wards, length of stay, and diagnosis as well as inappropriate test and inefficient tests.

resultsA total of 143 (1.50 %) of the tests were inefficient and was ordered due to laboratory errors including hemolysis, inefficient sampling, or absurd results. 2522 (26.40%) of the tests were inappropriate and stem from failure to meet medical/clinical appropriateness criteria.

conclusionWhereas, inappropriate test ordering was more frequent than inefficient tests, the initial improvement strategy should focus on physicians' test ordering behavior through conducting proper teaching strategies, ongoing audit and educational feedback, implementing health information technology tools and employing laboratory practice guidelines (LPGs) and testing algorithms. Conducting continuous quality improvement cycle for laboratory services and training of personnel involved in blood sampling is recommended for inefficient tests.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsHealth ExpendituresHemolysisLaboratoriesQuality ImprovementUtilization review

Identifiers

PMID27493909
PMCPMC4972058

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.