Stat laboratory testing: integration or autonomy?

Laboratory turnaround times (TATs) for urgent (Stat) tests are indicators of efficiency, and many clinicians consider prolonged TAT one of the most important causes for delay in transferring patients from emergency departments. Here, we present a review of the main proposed solutions, dependent on size, organization models and mission of the hospital. Although there is no clear evidence that laboratory TAT could be directly related to patient care, we need to continuously evaluate each laboratories performance by comparing them to patient outcomes.