South Korean Telecommunications Partner with Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Companies to Send Test Results to Consumers’ Mobile Devices

May 10, 2021 | International Laboratory News, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Laboratory Testing, Molecular Diagnostics, Genetic Testing, Whole Gene Sequencing

As consumer demand increases for medical laboratory testing services that bypass the supervision of primary care doctors, clinical laboratories may be affected Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing organizations and telecommunications companies in South Korea are collaborating to help consumers stay informed of their health status by sending lab test results directly to their mobile devices without requiring physician involvement. What can labs in the West learn from these developments? One...

Wall Street Journal Reports IBM May Sell Watson Health Due to Data Challenges and Unprofitability

Mar 29, 2021 | International Laboratory News, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Might this be a sign that AI platforms like Watson still cannot diagnose the wide range of patients’ conditions as accurately as a board-certified clinical pathologist? Computer technology evolves so quickly, products often become obsolete before fulfilling their expected potential. Such, apparently, is the case with Watson, the genius artificial intelligence (AI) brainchild of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) which was going to revolutionize how healthcare providers diagnose...

University of British Columbia Clinical Laboratory Proficiency Testing Program Adds COVID-19 Quality Assessments, Endows Chair

Mar 26, 2021 | Instruments & Equipment, International Laboratory News, International Laboratory News, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

COVID-19 pandemic has brought many non-traditional medical laboratory participants into UBC’s CMPT proficiency testing program When Canada’s British Columbia Center for Disease Control (BCCDC) saw the increasing demand for of COVID-19 tests and responsibilities headed its way, it reached out to a well-regarded proficiency testing program for help. The public health agency turned to the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Clinical Microbiology Proficiency Testing (CMPT) Program. Since the...

Concert Genetics, XIFIN, Bruce Quinn, MD, PhD, and The Dark Report to Update Clinical Laboratory Professionals on the State of the Genetic Testing Marketplace

Mar 23, 2021 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, International Laboratory News, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Physician use of genetic tests continues to grow at robust rates, even during the pandemic, but uncertainty about managed care reimbursement hangs over the market It may surprise many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers to learn that the market for genetic testing is robust and growing swiftly, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the explosion in both the number of unique genetic tests available to physicians, and the willingness of doctors to order genetic...

Clinical Laboratory Scientist in British Columbia Gets Recognition for Identifying the Province’s First Case of COVID-19

Mar 22, 2021 | International Laboratory News, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Medical technologists and clinical laboratory professionals are the unsung heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public is beginning to notice Medical technologists (MTs) and clinical laboratory scientists (CLSs) are the foundation of every successful clinical laboratory. But they seldom make the news. Therefore, it is worth noting, during this COVID-19 pandemic, when clinical laboratory professionals receive public recognition for the important role they play in fighting the disease. A news...

Common DNA Testing Method Using SNP Chips Struggles to Find Rare Variants Associated with BRCA Test, UK Researchers Find

Mar 17, 2021 | International Laboratory News, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations, Precision Medicine

Results of the UK study confirm for clinical laboratory professionals the importance of fully understanding the design and function of SNP chips they may be using in their labs Here is another example of a long-established clinical laboratory test that—upon new evidence—turns out to be not as accurate as once thought. According to research conducted at the University of Exeter in Devon, UK, Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips (aka, SNP microarrays)—technology commonly used in commercial...