FINANCIAL JUSTIFICATION OF ALTERNATE SITE TESTING

Fixed costs are higher and variable costs lower for clinical laborator y testing than for alternate-site testing (AST). For AST to become cos t-effective, variable costs must be reduced. Four models for accountin g for the costs of clinical laboratory testing and AST are compared. A common error is to omit some of the indirect costs of a cost-pertest analysis for AST, thereby providing false claims. For a cost-per-test analysis, we recommend that identical categories be used for both the central laboratory and for AST, However, cost-per-test data alone do n ot completely represent institutional costs or savings associated with laboratory testing at any site.