Analysis of the costs for the laboratory of flow cytometry screening of urine samples before culture

Urine culture samples comprise a large proportion of the workload in clinical microbiology laboratories, and most of the urine samples show no growth or insignificant growth. A flow cytometry-based analyzer (Sysmex Corporation, Japan) has been used to screen out negative urine samples prior to culture in the Päijät-Häme district. We applied decision analytic modelling to analyze, from a laboratory perspective, the economic feasibility of the screening method as compared to culture only (conventional method) for diagnosis of urinary tract infection. Our model suggests that the least costly analytical strategy is the conventional method. The incremental cost of screening is €0.29/sample. Although laboratory costs are higher, considerable savings on workload can be achieved. Furthermore, screening has numerous benefits on the treatment process of a patient that well warrant the use of the screening method. We conclude that the incremental cost of screening the samples is worth the expense.