[oxygenjoe]

Doctors, Nurses, clinical trail coordinators, paying a lab to process specimens, the list goes on. I work in a medical lab that charges a low flat rate for literally holding onto the specimens for a couple hours, and a high flat rate for any amount of processing, i.e. centrifuging specimens, pipetting into little labelled vials, adding certain preservatives, etc. This processing isn't really automation friendly and regulations require a CAP accredited lab to do the processing so it can't really be outsourced to a lower bidder.

I get the impression these companies aren't too concerned with the actual costs involved.