ASCP Adds 5 New Recommendations to Choosing Wisely Campaign
The American Society for Clinical Pathology has released 5 new practices that physicians and patients should question as part of their Choosing Wisely campaign.
The 5 new items follow a series of 25 recommendations added to the list since its creation in February of 2013. The new recommendations were developed by the ASCP Effective Test Utilization Steering Committee, which is comprised of subject matter and test utilization experts in various fields of pathology and laboratory medicine.
The new recommendations are as follows:
26. Do not routinely test for community gastrointestinal stool pathogens in hospitalized patients who develop diarrhea after the 3rd day of hospitalization.
27. Hepatitis C virus antibody testing should not be repeated in patients with previous positive Hepatitis C virus test results. Instead, Hepatitis C viral load testing should be ordered.
28. A hypercoagulable workup should not be performed in patients taking direct factor Xa or direct thrombin inhibitors.
29. Plasma catecholamines should not be used to evaluate patients for pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma. Instead, plasma free metanephrines or urinary fractionated metanephrines should be used.
30. Broad respiratory pathogen panels should not be routinely ordered unless the results will affect patient management.
“The laboratory tests targeted in our recommendations were selected because they are tests that are performed frequently; there is evidence that the test either offers no benefit or is harmful; use of the test is costly and it does not provide higher quality care; and eliminating it or changing to another test is within the control of the clinician.”
“Implementation of these recommendations will result in higher quality care, lower costs and a more effective use of our laboratory resources and personnel.”
—Michael Potts
Reference:
American Society for Clinical Pathology. Thirty things physicians and patients should question. Published September 4, 2019. Accessed September 6, 2019. http://www.choosingwisely.org/societies/american-society-for-clinical-pathology/.