Decreasing Costs for the Geenius HIV 1/2 Supplemental Assay

Summary

Impact Statement: 
Tarrant County Public Health’s (TCPH’s) North Texas Regional Laboratory (NTRL) decreased the cost of a specific HIV test by 40% by testing and adopting an alternative control test method. NTRL has received level funding for a few years while laboratory expenses have continued to grow. Achieving cost savings like this is needed to ensure that NTRL can continue to effectively fulfill its mission.
Summary: 

TCPH’s NTRL took a Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) approach to identify and test cost-saving measures for a new HIV test it had begun to use. The team pilot-tested an individual quality control plan (IQCP) for the Geenius HIV 1/2 Supplemental Assay that enabled the laboratory to move from day-of-use control testing to monthly control testing for this particular assay. The Geenius assay is a high-cost, low-demand test, and because it is needed for rapid diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection, it is not possible to batch these tests and thus decrease the number of times the test itself is performed. An alternative, monthly control test was deemed to be the best option for providing cost reductions. The team cut the cost of the test by 40% by decreasing the number of times control testing is performed.

Organization that conducted the QI initiative: 
TCPH
Citation: 

Turnage, N. Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange. Decreasing Costs for the Geenius HIV 1/2 Supplemental Assay. Tue, 04/03/2018 - 16:59. Available at http://www.phqix.org/content/decreasing-costs-geenius-hiv-12-supplemental-assay. Accessed March 27, 2024.

Submission Status: 
Completed
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Comments

Submitted by dbbailey2 on

Thank you for your time and effort in reviewing our QI initiative.

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