u/DisappointingPenguin

Hi all, curious RN lurker here. I’m wondering if anyone could kindly help me understand why some providers may choose to recheck a single electrolyte of interest rather than a full BMP. The sample collection is the same either way, and I imagine you’d put it in the same analyzer. Is anything easier, faster, or cheaper about only getting a single electrolyte than a BMP? Do you see all the results on the analyzer and then only post what was ordered?

My one hypothesis is that even if Na costs the lab the same time and material as BMP, the patient might be billed less for the single test, so this may be an attempt to save the patient money. Thoughts?