Flex testing puts you in control of target selection and cost

For clinical laboratory testing, flexibility and customization are essential for ensuring that all patients get the most appropriate test for their specific situation. Meeting the goals of diagnostic stewardship requires moving beyond a “one size fits all” approach to testing—but in an era of labor shortages and rising healthcare costs, that can seem like an insurmountable challenge.

Today, labs are faced with this dilemma for respiratory infection testing: either run a full syndromic panel or run a series of more targeted assays until a result comes back positive. Using a syndromic panel has the advantages of a single workflow and a more comprehensive approach that is likely to reveal the answer quickly, but it is very expensive and includes targets that are not recommended by clinical guidelines for all patients. Running targeted assays can better align with clinical testing guidelines, but this requires multiple workflows and can take far too long to return results, risking the inappropriate use of antimicrobial treatments and/or the wrong course of therapy.

Now, there is a better option—one that combines the best of both worlds to ensure that labs can achieve their diagnostic stewardship goals. The automated, sample-to-answer LIAISON PLEX® System and the LIAISON PLEX® Respiratory Flex Assay from Diasorin offer the customization and flexibility needed for the most optimal respiratory testing.

The LIAISON PLEX Respiratory Flex Assay is based on a unique Flex testing approach that enables users to perform a full syndromic panel or select, report and pay for results as if they were running targeted panels. With each patient sample, labratorians choose from a syndromic panel of 14 viral and 5 bacterial targets, paying based on the number of targets selected. But if all selected targets come back negative, users can select additional targets and report more results—without rerunning the panel or performing additional tests. New targets are simply selected in the software for processing, with results reported immediately. Costs are based on how many targets from the overall syndromic panel are reported. Custom mini panels can be defined ahead of time by the lab and run for certain patient demographics, or targets can be chosen ad hoc as needed.

With the LIAISON PLEX Respiratory Flex Assay, clinical laboratories receive the benefits of having access to results from a full syndromic panel without the downsides of higher costs and over-testing. This approach will help reduce the inappropriate use of antimicrobial treatments by getting actionable answers to physicians more quickly.

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