The Impact of a Standardized Pre-visit Laboratory Testing Panel in the Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic: a Controlled "On-Off" Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In several settings, a shorter time to diagnosis has been shown to lead to improved clinical outcomes. The implementation of a rapid laboratory testing allows for a pre-visit testing in the outpatient clinic, meaning that test results are available during the first outpatient visit.

Objective

To determine whether the pre-visit laboratory testing leads to a shorter time to diagnosis in the general internal medicine outpatient clinic.

Design

An "on-off" trial, allocating subjects to one of two treatment arms in consecutive alternating blocks.

Participants

All new referrals to the internal medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital were included, excluding second opinions. A total of 595 patients were eligible; one person declined to participat

SUBMITTER: Vrijsen BEL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8298644 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature