A laboratory's cost per report must include the work that makes the report dependable.
The first laboratory cost schedule I reviewed appeared straightforward: purchased units, reported tests and a price per unit. It became less straightforward when the laboratory director explained the controls and repeat work included in the consumption. The financial record had not been wrong, but the comparison had asked it to answer a question it did not fully describe. That conversation in my early laboratory-finance years has stayed with me. A low purchase price is not a complete account of what it costs to provide a dependable report.
Not every use of a reagent produces a billable patient report, and not every necessary laboratory activity should do so. I want finance to understand that difference before comparing prices or equipment proposals. Clinical and laboratory leaders decide what a dependable service requires; my responsibility is to make its financial support explicit.