The Value of the Clinical Laboratory

Extract

There is some history to suggest that when the motion to compose the Declaration of Independence came to the floor of the Second Continental Congress, several members of the Congress asked why it was necessary to publish anything since they already knew the reasons. John Adams is supposed to have said, “ Well, of course, we know the reasons but what about the rest of the world. ”

In the aftermath of the ACA validation by the Supreme Court and the continued scrutiny of patients, regulators, insurances, etc. at the continued increasing cost of health care, it is incumbent on every aspect of health care to ask themselves the question: What is our value, not only in terms of cost but also in terms of the care we give. And make no mistake, we, no less than physicians or nurses, give care. It is care in terms of numbers and identifications but it is still care. It matters if we know what our value is but no one else does. Someone must decide what is our value and what are the criteria by which we will measure that value. Who exactly should do that?

Within the law there is an entity called an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). The individual ACO's will determine the goals and criteria by which it will prove that corporate entity as a whole is in compliance with the ACA law and regulations concerning the provision of care. Obviously, this includes the clinical laboratory. Every healthcare institution…