Impact of diagnostic management team on patient time to diagnosis and percent of accurate and clinically actionable diagnoses
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Jessica Brashear
Abstract
Objectives
Diagnostic management teams (DMT) are groups of experts with specialized knowledge to guide test selection and interpretation of results. They have been active in institutions over the past 20 years. To date, there are limited data on whether the presence of experts to advise healthcare providers on appropriate laboratory test selection and interpretation of complex test results positively impacts patient care.
Methods
A retrospective study at a regional healthcare system with 257,000 patient encounters between 2011 and 2022 reviewing test interpretations provided by clinical laboratory experts on a diagnostic management team.
Results
Cases reviewed by the coagulation DMT were 6 times more likely to have an established, scientifically based diagnosis compared to those without a DMT. Patients who have a coagulation DMT review were twice as likely to receive a diagnosis vs. having no diagnosis.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates that for several objective clinical outcomes, specifically diagnostic conclusions and length of stay, a DMT of coagulation experts assessing patients’ test results has had a major impact on outcomes and delivery of care.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Jose Salazar, Peter McCaffrey, Vicki Freeman, and Carol Carmen for their guidance and recommendations.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Data availability: Not applicable.
References
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