Current trends in the collaboration of primary health care and clinical chemistry in the Nordic countries.

The way laboratory medicine is provided in primary health care depends on medical needs, organization of the health care system, development in technology and training and skill of personnel. This has also been recognized by general practitioners, clinical chemists and health administrators of the five Nordic countries. Together they have proposed guidelines for the utilization, provision, quality assurance and training of laboratory medicine as part of primary health care. The proposed guidelines resulted from a joint Nordic project by NORDKEM.