Between 1965 and 1985, the Consumer Price Index for medical items increased 4.5 times in the United States. During the same 20 years, at our institution's chemistry laboratories, the productivity (reported as number of tests/technologist/year) increased from 14,000 to 73,500. When expressed in constant 1965 dollars, salary per test was reduced from $0.60 to $0.13, supplies cost per test from $0.09 to $0.06, and the total cost per test from $0.69 to $0.19.