Originally presented as the 14th Annual Management Sciences Division Leadership Seminar on July 18, 2009 at the AACC Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. 

The Program

This session defined laboratory quackery and other forms of useless and unnecessary laboratory testing and discussed a number of different interventions to optimize laboratory use.

Moderator
Stephen Manzella
Director of Clinical Chemistry, York Hospital
York, PA

Reducing Laboratory Quackery and Other Forms of Unnecessary Laboratory Testing Webcast

Michael Astion, MD, PhD
Professor and Director of Reference Laboratory Services
University of Washington Department of Laboratory Medicine
Seattle, WA

Click here for a transcript of this webcast.

Learning Objectives

After participating in this program, participants should be able to:

• Discuss the most popular kinds of unnecessary laboratory testing and how patient perspective plays into unnecessary testing
• Explain the concept of predictive value and its interaction with laboratory testing
• List the eight warning signs of laboratory quackery
• Discuss interventions to prevent unnecessary laboratory testing and quackery.

Target Audience

Physicians, laboratory directors, residents/fellows, and clinicians interested in learning more about common types of unnecessary laboratory testing.

Content level: Basic to Intermediate

System Requirements

The presentations are best viewed with these system requirements:

• Computer: 500MHz with 128MB RAM
• Operating Systems: Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista or MAC OSX
• Players & Plugins: Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher
• Browsers: View Adobe's web browser requirements
• Audio: Functioning sound card with attached speakers installed

Sponsors and Supporters

Sponsored by the AACC Management Sciences Division. This annual lecture is given by the recipient of the previous year’s Outstanding Contributions to Management Sciences.