Optimization of quality assurance to increase clinical utility and cost effectiveness of hereditary cancer testing

To evaluate one laboratory's hereditary cancer testing clinical quality assurance (QA) process to minimize test-ordering errors.

The proportion of tests canceled/revised due to pre-analytic QA processes or provider consultation prior to test ordering were determined and the resulting health cost savings were estimated.

Over 2000 genetic test orders were canceled/revised over a 1-year period due to the laboratory QA process, saving US$5,801,832 in healthcare costs. Consultation with healthcare providers prior to submitting genetic test requests resulted in 37 canceled/revised test orders in a 2-week period, which extrapolates to a savings of US$3,049,098 over 1 year.

QA processes can contribute to the curtailment of healthcare costs through canceling or revising test orders.