May 1, 2017 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Genetic tests performed by FoundationOne and Guardant360 come to different conclusions in study of nine cancer patients whose study findings are of interest to pathologists
It’s an understatement to say that tests run by clinical laboratories and pathology groups must be accurate, consistent, and reliable. Thus, research conducted at the University of Washington School of Medicine (UW Medicine) in Seattle, which concluded that genetic tests from two different lab companies produce different results when given to the same patient, is of critical importance.
Oncologists and medical laboratory leaders must have confidence in the results of genetic tests performed on thousands of patients each year. However, according to a UW Medicine statement, a preliminary study comparing two commercially available next-generation genetic sequencing tests in the same cancer patients showed results that could be “markedly” different, depending on the tests performed. (more…)
Apr 17, 2017 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Pathologists could benefit if postmortem genetic testing becomes more commonplace following incidents of sudden unexpected death
Pathologists are discovering that molecular autopsy, also called postmortem molecular testing, could boost the chance of discovering the likely or plausible cause of sudden unexpected death, according to preliminary results from a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Researchers led by Ali Torkamani, PhD, Director of Genome Informatics at the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) and Assistant Professor of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute, sequenced samples from 25 sudden death cases. They identified: (more…)
Mar 22, 2017 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers grew heart muscle cells and used them, along with CRISPR, to predict whether a patient would benefit or experience bad side effects to specific therapeutic drugs
What would it mean to pathology groups if they could grow heart cells that mimicked a cardiac patient’s own cells? What if clinical laboratories could determine in vitro, using grown cells, if specific patients would have positive or negative reactions to specific heart drugs before they were prescribed the drug? How would that impact the pathology and medical laboratory industries?
We may soon know. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford) have begun to answer these questions. (more…)
Mar 15, 2017 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Since the first retail clinic opened in Minneapolis in 2001, there has been a steady increase in the number of such clinics, typically located in retail pharmacies and chain retailers
In Minnesota, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is preparing to substantially increase the number of urgent care clinics it operates in the state. These retail-style clinics will be operated by MedExpress, a company that UnitedHealth acquired in 2015.
UnitedHealth’s decision to expand the number of MedExpress retail clinics it operates, both in Minnesota and nationally, is a sign to clinical laboratory managers and pathologists that consumer demand for health services delivered by a retail clinic continues to increase. (more…)
Mar 8, 2017 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Pathologists in medical laboratories creating laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) should be aware that some in the scientific community want more transparency about technology and methods
Developers of clinical laboratory tests and medical diagnostic technologies might soon be feeling the pressure to increase their push for transparency and standards that ultimately would make replication easier.
That’s thanks to a review project’s inability to reproduce results from three of five high-profile cancer studies.
The review project is called the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology and is a collaboration between network provider Science Exchange of Palo Alto, Calif., and the Center for Open Science in Charlottesville, Va. They attempted to independently replicate selected results from high-profile cancer biology papers in an open fashion. (more…)
Feb 27, 2017 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
The DxMA Summit’s agenda will complement EWC’s and will explore disruptive technologies likely to be of great interest to medical laboratory leaders and pathology groups
Cybersecurity, wearable technology, and social media are the primary trends facing in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers and clinical laboratories.
That’s according to Debra Harrsch, President-elect of the Diagnostics Marketing Association (DxMA), a self-funded organization devoted to helping diagnostic marketing professionals stay abreast of industry trends and effectively navigate the changing legal, regulatory, and technology landscape.
DxMA will be holding its annual Global Marketing Summit April 30-May 1 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on Canal Street. Coincidentally, the 2017 Executive War College (EWC) will takes place in the same venue, May 2-3, directly following the DxMA summit. (more…)
