How Can Inpatient Clinicians Cut Unnecessary Lab Testing?

Despite negative consequences of excessive inpatient laboratory testing, patients often undergo daily blood draws. Investigators at a single U.S. institution implemented a scripted prompt into daily interdisciplinary bedside rounds to encourage physicians to discontinue daily lab tests — if deemed appropriate by the physician — when a patient was identified as clinically stable for discharge within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Compared with preintervention discharged patients (≈1600), postintervention discharged patients (≈1300) had significantly fewer lab tests ordered during the 24 hours prior to discharge (50% vs. 35%) and the 48 hours prior to discharge (78% vs. 55%).