Background: Unnecessary inpatient laboratory testing is common and negatively impacts patients by causing discomfort and iatrogenic anemia. Such testing also burdens a busy phlebotomy team, particularly when patients decline labs due to recency of previous checks. Audit and feedback interventions are known to reduce low value practices in medical residents, but no published study has [...]

Background: The American Board of Internal Medicine and the Society of Hospital Medicine have identified routine laboratory testing of stable inpatients as one source of low-value care.1,2 As it is estimated that upwards of 21% of all lab tests represent inappropriate overutilization,3 reducing unnecessary testing could have a significant impact on cost saving, limiting waste, [...]

Background: Up to 50% of the American healthcare spending is estimated to be wasteful. The largest type of wasteful spending is on overuse of tests and treatments. Among the diagnostic tests that are overused, excessive phlebotomy stands out due to its multifaceted implications, including hospital-acquired anemia, patient discomfort, provider burden, and avoidable downstream testing. The [...]