Improving appropriateness in laboratory medicine: How, when and why

The issue of the appropriateness in laboratory medicine has been discussed from several years in association to the parallel onset of two aspects: 1) the significant increase in tests demand and utilization, thanks to the development of laboratory automation and information laboratory systems (LIS), that allow to provide timely and reliable results to clinicians; 2) the opportunity, thanks to new pathophysiological knowledge and new technologies to introduce new and more sophisticated tests in clinical practice, providing a relevant support to the clinician in the management of patients, according to the improved vision of personalized medicine. As a consequence, the potential inappropriate…