PROGRESS IN CLINICAL LABORATORIES

Conventional wisdom perceives progress in the clinical laboratory as a wider menu of available tests and technologies. In this review, we an alyze a different concept of progress and propose the following action s: better communication with clinicians, quality control, containment of costs, continuing education and interrelation among laboratories, c ritical evaluation of emerging technologies, review of work safety, an d implementation and/or review of regulations. In the future, clinical laboratories will have to offer quality tests, useful information, an d low costs.