Estimating costs and turnaround times: presenting a user-friendly tool for analyzing costs and performance.

A review of the literature finds wide variation in the costs and turnaround times associated with central laboratories, satellite laboratories, and point-of-care testing. The greatest variation occurs when comparing options for blood gas and electrolyte testing. Some variation can be attributed to costing methods, but substantial variation arises from circumstances under which testing is undertaken in specific sites. These circumstances include the site-specific costs of resources used in testing, volumes of testing conducted, and performance requirements demanded by the users of laboratory information.