The laboratory should be subdivided into cost/revenue centers to monitor costs and revenues. A cost/revenue center is an area of the laboratory with specific costs and revenues, such as the examples in Table 2.
Table 2: Example Cost Revenue Centers in the Clinical Laboratory |
Clinical chemistry |
Transfusion services |
Hematology |
Microbiology |
Specimen Acquisition and processing |
Urinalysis |
Laboratory Administration (cost center only) |
Because laboratory administration does not directly provide revenue for the laboratory, it is generally not considered a revenue center. Some revenue may be produced through phlebotomy and other specimen collection fees, so specimen acquisition and processing can be regarded as both a cost and revenue center. However, it usually does not produce a profit or comes close to paying for the services it provides, so rarely is it a profit center.