Integrating
In Vitro and In Vivo Diagnostics
Across
the laboratory industry, there is keen curiosity about how imaging
giants Siemens and General
Electric plan to integrate in vitro diagnostics with in vivo
diagnostics. Executives from both companies have not been detailed
in their public statements about how integration of these two
medical disciplines is likely to occur. But recently the opportunity
presented itself for me to learn more about this subject.
Last week, I was privileged to co-chair a laboratory management
meeting conducted by Siemens
Medical Solutions Diagnostics in William Shakespeare's home
town of Stratford-upon-Avon, England. This was the third annual
Process Management Meeting Siemens has produced for its laboratory
customers in the United Kingdom. My co-chair was David Ricketts,
Laboratory Manager at North
Middlesex University Hospital in London, England.
One session at this meeting was targeted specifically at the topic
of integrating in vitro and in vivo diagnostics. In a point/counterpoint
discussion, Ricketts challenged Nico Arnold, the newly-appointed
Head of Europe for Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics, to lay
out the company’s strategy and give everyone in the meeting
a better understanding of how Siemens’ intends to proceed
to achieve integration of these two diagnostic disciplines.
Nico Arnold’s message was simple and clear. “Going
forward, laboratory customers of Siemens will see a continued
commitment to both the latest in lab test technology and a high
level of value-added service,” he stated. “With its
recent acquisitions, Siemens has become the world’s largest
player in immunoassays and is one of the top three largest in
vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers globally. Siemens fully
intends to be at the forefront of laboratory medicine, just as
it is a leader in radiology and imaging.”
Arnold then emphasized that integration of laboratory medicine
and radiology services can only be successful so long as Siemens
maintains state-of-the-art technology. It will be the intersection
of these evolving technologies that will create opportunities
to integrate the two disciplines, thus delivering increased value
to physicians. With its laboratory customers in the United Kingdom
(UK), Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics was consistent in
its message that integration will be an ongoing, but evolutionary,
strategy within the company.
Lab managers and pathologists in the United States will also be
interested in several other developments revealed at Siemens’
process management meeting. Just as in this country, UK laboratory
leaders are taking active steps to improve operational performance,
streamline workflow, and use quality management principles to
raise quality and service even while reducing cost and eliminating
waste.
For example, the laboratory of John
Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England (associated with Oxford
University School of Medicine) has reduced average test turnaround
times using process re-engineering and new instrumentation arrangements.
Richard Taylor, BSc, Ph.D., FRCPath, a Consultant Clinical Scientist
at the laboratory, described the management initiatives which
achieved those outcomes.
Lean, Six Sigma, benchmarking, and best practices were also discussed
in detail and in multiple presentations. Like in the United States,
laboratory administrators in the United Kingdom are willing to
use a variety of new management approaches and methods.
One interesting statistic illustrates the scale of the challenge
in the United Kingdom. During his presentation on using Lean principles
to improve laboratory workflow and quality, Tony Currell, CSci,
FIBMS, the Clinical Biochemistry Service Manager at St.
Helens and Knowsley NHS Acute Trust in Merseyside, England,
showed a slide that tracked the number of medical technologists
in the United Kingdom. Since 1990, that number, about 20,000,
has remained virtually unchanged for 17 years. Yet, over that
same period, there has been a steady increase in both the number
of lab tests on the menu and the volume of laboratory specimens
tested. These facts demonstrate how the laboratory profession
has managed to sustain laboratory services by using automation,
new technology, and quality management methods to squeeze every
bit of productivity out of laboratory resources.
Your travelling Dark Daily Editor,
Robert L. Michel
P.S. For those of you keenly interested in how
laboratory medicine and radiology is destined become an integrated
service, there will be an opportunity to get insights into Siemens’
plans and strategies at the upcoming Executive War College in
Miami on May 10-11, 2007. Dave Hickey, Vice President of Strategic
Marketing and Planning, Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics,
Tarrytown, New York, will speak on “Full Service Diagnostics:
The Coming Convergence of Imaging, Informatics, and In Vitro Diagnostics
(IVD). You can access the full details using the links below.
Take action today and join us in Miami.
Early-Bird
Discount Registration now available online
Visit http://www.executivewarcollege.com
Download Full
Program Agenda
You can:
1. Register
ONLINE right now; or,
2. Call 800-560-6363. Our friendly staff can register you quickly
and easily, as well as answer any questions you may have.
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