Introduction

The laboratory budget is critical to the financial viability of the laboratory. Without a laboratory budget, the allocation and monitoring of resources would not be possible. Inventory management is an extension of the budget process. An NCCLS (National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, now known as CLSI - Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute) survey determined that 47% of laboratories they surveyed experienced a stock outage at least once a month.¹ Vendors were responsible for about half of those but the laboratory itself was responsible for the other half. Improving consumer buying practices and the capability to plan for shortages is critical to the quality of the laboratory operation and its financial viability.