In today’s healthcare environment, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines are often used to help healthcare practitioners make informed patient care decisions. These guidelines frequently rely upon laboratory test results to determine if and when treatment is necessary. The laboratory community is concerned that many healthcare professionals and patients are not aware that different measurement procedures may give different numeric values for the same test (i.e., not all measurement procedures are “harmonized”). Harmonized laboratory test results are important for making effective, necessary and correct treatment decisions to provide appropriate patient care. Unfortunately, treatment decisions based on non-uniform test results may lead to erroneous clinical or technical decisions that could negatively impact patient care.
Read The AACC Positin Statement:
http://www.aacc.org/gov/gov_affairs/Documents/Position_Statement-Harmonization_V11.pdf
Source: AACC
Image credits: AACC
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