Cost Analysis of Operating an Anatomic Pathology Laboratory in a Middle-Income Country

Abstract

Anatomic pathology is more costly than other hospital laboratories due to the labor-intensive work, but is essential, particularly for cancer diagnoses and treatment.

CytoPAN—Portable cellular analyses for rapid point-of-care cancer diagnosis

“…The estimated cost for each test kit is under $5, more than five times lower than the current cost of conducting diagnostic pathology tests. The costs per histopathology slide are $149 in Lilongwe and $24 to 28 in Nebraska (45). Note that the estimated cost per slide in Nebraska does not include time and cost for pathologist's review and interpretation.…”

Data-Driven Decision-Making in Support of Managing Pathology Laboratories

“…For this purpose, varied data are required for input (eg, costs, revenues) and output (eg, profits) into financial calculations. To determine the finances of a specific operation in the laboratory, data analysis may require evaluating key performance indicators such as expenditure for direct costs (eg, labor, equipment, reagents, etc) and indirect costs (eg, administration, information technology, etc), as well as workload data (eg, test volume) and staff productivity 18 . Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that capture client data can be an important data source for understanding improvement opportunities in the delivery of laboratory services.…”

“…To determine the finances of a specific operation in the laboratory, data analysis may require evaluating key performance indicators such as expenditure for direct costs (eg, labor, equipment, reagents, etc) and indirect costs (eg, administration, information technology, etc), as well as workload data (eg, test volume) and staff productivity. 18 Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that capture client data can be an important data source for understanding improvement opportunities in the delivery of laboratory services. In our externally facing laboratory services division, we implemented a CRM solution to provide analytics for our client services center (eg, recorded calls), business development, marketing campaigns, and tracking financial performance.…”

Generating clinical-grade pathology reports from gigapixel whole slide images with HistoGPT

“…It involves the analysis of slides by pathologists, the dictation of findings, and the writing of the report. However, this process is time-consuming and labor-intensive 3 . The turnaround time for patients is likely to worsen in the future as the number of pathologists is decreasing at an alarming rate.…”