I am a Medical Laboratory Scientist. The role of the Clinical Laboratory in the diagnostic process cannot be overemphasized. The Clinical Laboratory (whose major duty is to provide diagnosis) can either work in autonomy or in collaboration with Pathologists, physicians or other health professionals in interpreting the produced laboratory results to ensure effective treatment or management of diseases or pathological conditions.

We must note that the Clinical Laboratory is the powerhouse of any health facility, because every treatment measure must be determined by the outcome of the lab. results, without which, treatment measures will be based on trial and error.

Its a major area which being hindered till date or no one has paid that much attention to these factors which are suppose to play a key role in patient services and better health output. Being a clinical laboratory personnel, I would like to comment on some important aspect as clinicians are missing to be considered while interpreting the laboratory result:

1. Quality Control aspect of clinical laboratory, and the defined consideration of quality result ( 2SD OR 3SD, Whatever result are given should be considered by knowing this window only, specifically the borderline result, here the role of clinician to interpret results in depending on the clinical symptoms of patients)

2. Clinician should have idea of biological variation of biochemical analyte and their application whenever necessary.

3. Clinician and laboratory should work be hand in hand and maintain the critical logs of every analyte for betterment and should be informed in their scheduled meetings.

4. I personally feel that there should be critical analysis of all laboratory investigations and dealing clinicians for some of the important clinical cases so as improve quality on either side.

5. Work as team will surely improve the quality services.

mainly clinical lab helps by providing clinical information to the physicians to make a correct diagnostic intervention.

I hate to say it but we are moving from your 2nd and 3rd senerios to the first. As a laboratorian in the United States we are becoming more and more number providers, unless we make a mistake, then we are the most important part of diagnosing. Testing is becoming so automated that the human element is being removed and inturpretation is moving to the computer. I dont mean to be such a downer but it is what I see happening.

I hope that David answer is a pessimistic but not realistic vision of the laboratory role in the diagnostic process. In Italy the situation is more varied depending on the attitude of each professional in the reaffirmation of its role. So, the personal commitment can be the watershed between a clinical partner and a "number supplier".

Only a few colleagues answered this question. Curiously still no clinician seem to be interested in this discussion

Being a retired Medical Laboratory head and Clinical Chemist I hate to be called a result factory (1st scenario), although for simpel sodium or glucose measurements for general physicians that is more or less the case. By the way, it is impossible to advise and comment on all these individual data.

Professional guidance of clinicians is selecting tests and in interpretation in specific fields as suggested is an important part of the laboratory job,

The realistic situation is that in large labs a mix of scenarios 2 and 1 exists. The larger the lab (or being an academic lab) gives you the possiblility to develop new tests, needed by the clinicians plus teaching junior clinicians.