American Society for Microbiology, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 5(58), 2020
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01508-19
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The number of onsite clinical microbiology laboratories in hospitals is decreasing, likely related to the business model for laboratory consolidation and labor shortages, and this impacts a variety of clinical practices, including that of banking isolates for clinical or epidemiologic purposes. To determine the impact of these trends, infectious disease (ID) physicians were surveyed regarding their perceptions of offsite services. Clinical microbiology practices for retention of clinical isolates for future use were also determined.