The bottom line is money. That's what the bean counters are always looking
at - the bottom line.  I am not a supervisor, but used to sell laboratory
services in the mid-80's. The lab I worked for didn't perform anything they
couldn't make a profit on. I've been a MT for 32 years, but mostly in
microbiology. However, these are some questions off the top of my head that
I would ask if someone came to me and asked if we could set up testing:

Do you do enough of this testing to warrant setting it up? How many
requests/month do you receive? What does your reference lab charge you for
this test? Can you do it for less?

What are the costs involved in setting it up?

What CPT code(s) will you bill and what type of reimbursement will you get
back? This is an EXTREMELY important consideration nowadays.

How many FTE's does it take to perform the test? Who would do them? Would
you do them STAT or batch them, to save control costs, which aren't
reimbursed? How long would it take to get someone up and running with the
testing? What type of validation do you need to do to get the test going. Do
you have to do comparison studies, etc.?

Are docs requesting this test and are they upset with TAT from reference
labs? Would they order the test more often if it were brought in-house?

If costs (reagents, tech time) are < reimbursements than you're cool,
assuming you have enough testing to make it worth the time. I was told by my
marketing supervisors way back when I marketed services that if <10 tests
were performed per month, it wasn't worth bringing in-house.

Hopefully this should get you started....

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology (but used to do chemistry and hematology many years ago...)