Our wise readers probably have been using this website for a couple of decades now, but for us it’s been a new and interesting discovery. ARUP Consult, a collaborative website run by Utah-based ARUP Laboratories with help from an expert panel of University of Utah medical faculty, is described as a “dynamic tool to provide instant, electronic, point-of-care access to laboratory testing information, help with test selection and decision making, and test interpretation for more than 750 laboratory tests.” The information offered through ARUP Consult can be accessed either via the Web or PDA. The website offers more than 1,500 lab tests categorized into disease-related topics, as well as a number of clinical decision-making algorithms. Our staff anesthesiologists were particularly drawn to the Porphyrias Testing Algorithm that is illustrated at the bottom of the post.
A representative for ARUP Consult tells the following to Medgadget:
New and updated information is “published” every two months and each topic or disease receives a thorough annual review to ensure current and correct information. In an industry where nearly 80 percent of major medical decisions are based on lab test results it is extremely important to know which tests to order, why, how to interpret them and which steps to take next. Physicians don’t have the time or resources to stay current on a lab industry that constantly changes with improved techniques and assays. However, getting tests right the first time and having a resource at your fingertips to improve diagnostic capabilities will not only save valuable time and money to both physician and patient, but will ensure optimum patient care.
We saw more than $50 billion spent last year in laboratory testing and over 10 percent or more of that was unnecessary… and this is not counting patient downstream costs and unnecessary therapy. ARUP Consult fills a giant gap in patient diagnostics.
ARUP Consult: The Physician’s Guide to Laboratory Test Selection and Interpretation…