Apr 29, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
New generation of private telemedicine kiosks are popping up at Kaiser Permanente, Rite Aid pharmacies, giving pathology groups opportunities to do consultations
Coming soon to a pharmacy, school, retail store, or employer near you is a new generation of walk-in telemedicine kiosks. These kiosks are specifically designed to allow consumers to have private medical consultations with physicians. For that reason, pathologists and their medical specialty associations may find it timely to engage the company offering these kiosks with the goal of incorporating pathology consultations in the service mix offered by this new generation of telemedicine kiosks.
No less than the famous Mayo Clinic has become the latest healthcare provider to partner with HealthSpot, the company that designed this new telemedicine kiosk. This pilot program will be called the Mayo Clinical Health Connection and Mayo Clinic is placing these kiosks in its facilities in Austin and Albert Lea, Minnesota, specifically for use by employees of the Mayo Clinical Health System. Mayo officials hope that the use of these kiosks will contribute to reduced healthcare costs and improved access to medical services.
In a parallel pilot project, Mayo Clinic is placing its Mayo Clinic Health Connection kiosks in public schools in Austin, Minnesota. Plans are to eventually offer the service at university, employer, and retailer locations. (more…)
Mar 27, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
Even federal agencies are feeling the consequences of increased transparency as studies uncover serious problems in how data from clinical trials is made available to the public
Increased transparency is coming to clinical trials because of proposed new federal rules. Although the greatest impact will be on drug trials and pharmaceutical research, experts believe that developers of new diagnostic technologies and clinical laboratory tests will benefit as a result of easier access to the public data filed by researchers. Two government agencies published notices announcing their intention to stiffen requirements for greater transparency in clinical trials. The proposed changes are significant for pathologists and medical laboratory professionals because, more stringent requirements for registration and dissemination would make more data from clinical studies available for researchers who develop clinical laboratory tests.
HHS and NIH Publish Notice of Proposed Changes
In November 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). The same month, its research agency, the National Institutes of Health, announced a draft policy regarding required dissemination of NIH-funded clinical trial information.
The goal of the proposed changes is to ensure that summary results for drugs that fail in trials, or are dropped for other reasons, still make it into the public database, ClinicalTrials.gov, according to a story published in Science.
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Mar 23, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
As proposed, the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative would incorporate a large, volunteer study cohort in innovative ways
Even as a new presidential initiative to boost precision medicine makes headlines, there is uncertainty as to how the program can be funded. The Precision Medicine Initiative was announced by President Obama on January 30, 2015.
Many pathologists, clinical chemists, and medical laboratory scientists recognize that such a program would pump additional funds into the research and development of new diagnostic tests that are designed to aid physicians in their practice of precision medicine.
The big question is how to pay for this initiative. President Obama proposed budgeting $215 million to fund this effort. But such funding must be approved by a Congress that is at odds with the President on nearly every issue. Additionally, The American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) warns that the Food and Drug administration’s (FDA) 2014 announcement to regulate laboratory developed testing services (LDTs) is in conflict with the President’s initiative. (more…)
Mar 16, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
On May 5-6 in New Orleans, leadership will be a major theme when “the U.S. Army War College meets the Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management” in a special workshop for executive leaders of labs and pathology groups
Some would argue that leadership in medical laboratories today has something in common with the opening line of a famous 19th century novel.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” is the first sentence in “A Tale of Two Cities,” Charles Dickens’ famous novel. Many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers would agree that this sentence accurately describes today’s marketplace for medical laboratory testing. (more…)
Feb 25, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Researchers at Imperial College London report that their new nanoparticles make it possible for cancer to be visible in magnetic resonance imaging
Even as pathologists are working to develop more sensitive and accurate diagnostic tests for cancer, similar efforts are underway in radiology and imaging. In fact, one research team has developed a self-assembling nanoparticle that can adhere to cancer cells, thus making them visible in MRI scans and possibly eliminate the need for invasive tissue biopsies.
Clinical pathologists and medical laboratory managers will be interested in this research, which is being done at Imperial College London (Imperial). Researchers there have developed a self-assembling nanoparticle that targets cancer cells and makes them visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. (more…)
Feb 13, 2015 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Management & Operations
Accelerating pace of hospital consolidation brings new pressure to pathologists and clinical laboratory directors to maximize the value of pathology services
Large and financially-stable multi-hospital health systems are racing to form regional mega-systems. It’s a strategy to get ahead of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) mandate to improve quality and increase efficiency through coordinated care across the entire care continuum.
This growing national trend means further consolidation of clinical laboratory testing services within the merging organizations. For pathology groups, the new super-systems may encourage the different pathology groups within the system to consolidate into a single practice entity. This would help improve how pathology services are more deeply integrated into the care continuum. It would also facilitate contract negotiations between the pathologists and the parent health system. (more…)
