Effective Test Utilization Course Coming Soon

This month, ASCP will launch an eLearning course, Case-Based Best Practices in Effective Test Utilization for Clinical Laboratories, which will be freely available to learners through August 2025. The course will be available via ASCP’s learning management system and is eligible for 1.0 CME/CMLE credit.

Information about registration , click here and go to Training Resources.

As background, last July ASCP launched Effective Test Utilization for Clinical Laboratories, a course funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC had conducted a training needs assessment which revealed laboratory leaders were interested in strategies to mitigate supply chain disruptions and improve resource management.

As a part of the agreement, ASCP revisited its own member surveys conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those surveys had focused on supply chain management techniques and indicated that a key strategy used by laboratories was effective test utilization, or ETU. (This refers to eliminating tests or modifying the frequency of testing when it has little or no clinical benefit to the patient.) These ETU guidelines are based on Choosing Wisely recommendations. 

The course used a microlearning educational model, where participants receive two short, practical case scenarios every two days by email for a total of nine, five-minute case studies. This staggered learning approach has been shown to be effective for knowledge retention in adult learners. Case studies were developed by known leaders in the Effective Test Utilization field.

To better understand learner experience and interest in subsequent microlearning offerings, ASCP deployed a survey to 801 participants enrolled in the program as of December 2023. Preliminary responses to the training were very positive. Most respondents were satisfied with the quality of information provided in the case study questions and explanations. Additionally, 95 percent of respondents said the activity helped them better understand best practices of ETU in clinical laboratories, and 98 percent indicated that, since taking the course, they have or will have improved capacity to evaluate ETU best practices in their own clinical setting. This latest course includes updated educational content, including a new case study and course guidebook.  

This resource was made possible by cooperative agreement NU47OE000107 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.

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