The office laboratory in pediatric practice

The pediatric office laboratory. A look at recent trends

The office laboratory has experienced an explosive growth in this decade as a result of technological advances and changes in reimbursement and regulatory practices. An evaluation of currently available methods, however, suggests that tests appropriate for the pediatric office laboratory today are similar to those recommended in a critical appraisal of pediatric laboratory medicine in 1974. This underscores the fact that the patient and not the technology dictates the tests to be performed.