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Keywords

Diagnostic stewardship, Infectious diseases, Clinical microbiology, Appropriate use, Test utilisation

Abstract

Diagnostic stewardship in infectious diseases is crucial to ensure that the right test is performed for the right patient for the right reasons at the right time, with the right interpretation which results in the right treatment, optimizing patient care. Managing clinicians have a critical role to play in thoughtful decision making in the pre- and post-analytic phases of test selection, interpretation and subsequent action. They also need to have a good understanding of the analytic phase of testing (test performance characteristics and limitations). In this paper, diagnostic stewardship across the main testing modalities for infectious diseases (culture, serology and molecular-based testing) are reviewed.

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