Medical Database, Inc., a provider of updated medical information to healthcare providers, insurance companies and educational institutions, announced the publication of a clinical study which provides evidence for the effectiveness of a laboratory decision system (LDS) which guides clinicians in selecting and ordering laboratory tests. The study results, published in The Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine, show a significant reduction in the number of unnecessary tests ordered by clinicians, thereby reducing 'wasteful' healthcare spending while improving patient outcomes.
Until recently, there has been no centralized, reliable resource for providers to reference when ordering from an ever-increasing selection of laboratory tests. The increase in molecular genetic testing available has only compounded the difficulty in selecting the most medically appropriate diagnostic test. As one CDC study showed, nearly 15 percent of primary care physicians experienced uncertainty in ordering the proper test. The same study noted that more than 75 percent of the providers would welcome a reference resource to help reduce uncertainty.
Laboratory diagnostics has become the largest single clinical activity in the U.S., with 4 to 5 billion tests performed each year. Yet no solution has been proven to make a positive impact on test utilization and meeting medical necessity.
To address these challenges, Irvine, California-based Medical Database, Inc. developed LDS, a laboratory test ordering and utilization management software. This intuitive new platform employs evidence-based guidelines and industry best practices to assist healthcare providers in selecting and ordering the most appropriate laboratory tests.
With LDS, clinicians are able to select the most appropriate test using test procedure, CPT code, disease, or a diagnostic (ICD10) code. All orders placed using the LDS platform automatically include the appropriate ICD10 code to meet medical necessity for reimbursement. This innovative LDS feature allows labs and hospitals to streamline claims submission/verification.
LDS utilizes a proprietary (patent pending) ranking system to 'rate' potential tests for any given disease and assigns an easily interpretable numerical and color-coded score, based on clinical relevance, medical necessity and testing indicati
