Dr. Larry Argatoff
Dr. Kamran Azar
Ms. Haleh Bahrami
Dr. Vilte Barakauskas
Dr. Richard Cleve
Ms. Catriona Gano
Dr. Doug Hardy
Dr. Daniel Holmes
Dr. Miguel Imperial
Ms. Joanne Isber
Dr. Steven Loken
Dr. Launny Lowden
Ms. Pam Ramsay
Ms. Lisette Vienneau

Dr. James Cupples (Chair)
Dr. Michael Chen
Ms. Mariana Diacu
Dr. Kennard Tan
Ms. Gloria Tang

The UMC’s purpose is to:

• Support the overarching goals of the Ministry of Health and Agency to provide clinical laboratory patient services and ensure that clinical laboratory resources are deployed efficiently and where they are most needed for the best patient care possible.
• Develop and implement a formal framework to make recommendations that promote appropriate utilization of publicly funded laboratory tests.
• Identify and recommend high value utilization management initiatives that have the greatest impact clinically, financially and operationally resulting in optimization of clinical laboratory medicine.
• Monitor and evaluate the appropriateness and necessity of clinical laboratory test utilization.
• Review clinical guidelines and changes to clinical testing and assess the impact to laboratory services utilization.
• Ensure evidence based laboratory test utilization review and adjudication processes.

The UMC consists of 14 standing members, the Chair and five ex-officio members (one from the Ministry of Health, two Agency leaders and two Agency support staff). All standing members have expertise and experience in clinical laboratory medicine. Ad-hoc stakeholders may be invited, at the request of the Chair, to address specific issues.

Test utilization management opportunities are evidence-based interventions that provide for appropriate use of publicly funded clinical laboratory tests. These interventions enhance patient care and quality, and have the greatest impact clinically, financially and/or operationally to laboratoriesⁱ. Furthermore, they are opportunities that help manage the demands for pathology tests (i.e., reduce overordering, underordering and misordering of tests) and reduce or eliminate inappropriate requests.^ii‎

The requester must be an employee of:

• a laboratory provider (public/private)
• a health authority
• a referring practitioner or physician
• BC’s Agency for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
• Ministry of Health, or
• Doctors of BC‎

Fill out the Test Utilization Management Opportunity Intake Form.

(Please note: If the form does not open, download the file. Right click here, select “Save link as” or “Save Target As”, click Save.)

Test utilization management opportunities may be submitted to the Utilization Management Committee via email at labutilization@phsa.ca.

‎The UMC assesses the test utilization management opportunities based on medical and scientific evidence, impact on quality of patient care and safety, feasibility, impact on cost and volumes, and the ability to leverage existing structures to support clinical change.ⁱⁱⁱ

‎The requester will be notified of the outcome of the opportunity proposed.

Please contact Gloria.Tang@phsa.ca, Project Manager, BC’s Agency for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.‎