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Laboratory Utilization Management in Canada

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Utilization Management in the Clinical Laboratory and Other Ancillary Services

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Abstract

Clinical laboratories in Canada are essentially all publically funded, either directly or indirectly. This has created a strong interest among laboratories in mitigating unsustainable increases in laboratory test volumes. However at the same time, the public nature of funding in Canada has opened the door to political interference in health care planning and delivery. A number of utilization management strategies have been attempted in Canada, and there is now renewed interest in laboratory utilization since the formation of Choosing Wisely Canada. Considerable work remains, however, in acquiring and analyzing laboratory utilization data, detecting patterns of suboptimal ordering, and matching these to the most appropriate utilization management strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Family Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, C414, Diagnostic and Scientific Centre, 9, 3535 Research Road NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2L 2K8

    Christopher Naugler

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  1. Christopher Naugler
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Correspondence to Christopher Naugler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Laboratory Medicine Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Kent Lewandrowski

  2. Pathology Service Core Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Patrick M. Sluss

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Naugler, C. (2017). Laboratory Utilization Management in Canada. In: Lewandrowski, K., Sluss, P. (eds) Utilization Management in the Clinical Laboratory and Other Ancillary Services. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34199-6_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34199-6_26

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-34197-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-34199-6

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