Intermountain Medical Center announced Thursday that its central laboratory can now detect the H1N1 flu virus in less than four hours after a specimen arrives, providing the most rapid turn-around test now available in Utah for patients with the virus who have not been hospitalized.

In a press release sent to Utah media, Debbie Bennion, the lab's supervisor of molecular pathology, said IMC is "currently one of only a handful of hospital-based labs in the nation with the ability to do this test."

Rapid testing has these advantages:

It allows doctors to provide antiviral drugs like Tamiflu quickly to reduce the severity of symptoms, and reserves them for patients who actually have H1N1, preserving their effectiveness because they are only used for people who really need them.

It reduces cost when specimens don't have to be sent to California — the nearest lab for testing on patients who have not been hospitalized.

The complex rapid-testing procedure requires advanced technology and highly trained professionals, both available at IMC.

During the peak of the 2009-10 flu season, Bennion anticipates that up to 60 percent of the tests sent into the central lab for respiratory virus analysis will be positive for H1N1. "Everyone is concerned about H1N1. We're offering some peace of mind and faster access to the appropriate therapy," she said.