The financial viability of a new analytical instrument needs to be determined. If the instrument does not pay for itself, the evaluator must ask if the tests can be sent to a reference laboratory with the same patient and provider outcomes. In some instances, the need may outweigh the costs. An example is in an emergency room where immediate test results are needed for life-or-death decisions. Providers can be asked to provide feedback on their needs for immediate test results versus delayed results from a reference laboratory. If the tests can be sent out with a faster turnaround time but doing them in-house will provide profit for the laboratory, the instrument may still be justified to be done in-house if it will provide resources to support unprofitable critical testing. An example may be tests that need to be run every other day or twice weekly to achieve a significant volume, but immediate results are not required.
This course will discuss a specific process for determining financial viability later in this course.
