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Procalcitonin: The Laboratory Costs of Misused Tests
Background:
The study aimed to assess the compliance of procalcitonin (PCT) testing protocols for sepsis diagnosis and antibiotic therapy guidance and evaluate the economic impact of unnecessary or inappropriate testing.
Methods:
The time intervals between tests were evaluated for all PCT requested in a tertiary hospital between January 2022 and December 2023. A cost of 20 €/test was calculated for each PCT.
Results:
A total number of 5,420 PCT tests were requested. A budget of 108,400 € was spent. Almost 22% of the tests were conducted within 12 hours of the first measurement, and 6% were performed more than 10 days apart, resulting in 33,580 € (30%) spent. A total of 845 patients did not have a follow-up test, and 16,900 € were spent in these cases. The median number of PCT was 3.33 tests/patient. For 23 cases, more than 10 PCT tests/patient were performed; a total of 338 tests, with the cost of 6,760 €.
Conclusions:
In total, out of the 108,400 € spent on PCT tests, at least 33,580 € (30%) could have been saved by adherence to the most basic protocols regarding PCT testing: longer than 24-hours interval between measurements and follow-up of initially elevated results.
