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Jun 24, 2016Article Details
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Main Article Content
Compliance to HIV treatment monitoring guidelines can reduce laboratory costs
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to demonstrate changes in laboratory expenditure, for individual and panel tests, for ART toxicity monitoring.
Method: NHLS Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) data were extracted for HIV conditional grant accounts to assess ART toxicity monitoring laboratory expenditure between 2010/2011 and 2014/2015. Data were classified based on the tests requested, as either panel (LFT or urea and electrolytes) or individual (alanine transaminase or creatinine) tests.
Results: Expenditure on panel tests reduced from R340 million in 2010/2011 to R140m by 2014/2015 (reduction of R204m) and individual test expenditure increased from R34m to R76m (twofold increase). A significant reduction in LFT panel expenditure was noted, reducing from R322m in 2010/2011 to R130m in 2014/2015 (60% reduction).
Conclusion: Changes in toxicity monitoring guidelines and the re-engineering of the NHLS request form successfully reduced expenditure on panel tests relative to individual tests. The introduction of order entry systems could further reduce unnecessary laboratory expenditure.
