Smartphone Apps Enable Healthcare Consumers to Receive Primary Care without Traditional Office Visits, But How Will They Provide Needed Medical Laboratory Samples?

Jan 8, 2020 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

These virtual office visits use artificial intelligence and text messaging to allow real physicians to diagnose patients, write prescriptions, and order clinical laboratory tests Clinical laboratories may soon be receiving test orders from physicians who never see their patients in person, instead evaluating and diagnosing them through a smartphone app. In response to major changes in the primary care industry—mostly driven by consumer demand—mobile app developers are introducing new methods...

New Year of 2020 Brings Issues That Fully Challenge All Clinical Laboratory and Anatomic Pathology Leaders

Jan 6, 2020 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations

Changes in reimbursement models and federal compliance, as well as tougher payer audits, make it critical clinical laboratory managers are fully informed and prepared for what lies ahead in 2020 Not only does January 1st bring the new year of 2020, but it also brings tough challenges for leaders of the nation’s clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. Most of these challenges are triggered by the ongoing transformation of the American healthcare system. “Healthcare’s transformation...

Two Boston Health Systems Enter the Growing Direct-to-Consumer Gene Sequencing Market by Opening Preventative Genomics Clinics, but Can Patients Afford the Service?

Jan 3, 2020 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, Precision Medicine

By offering DTC preventative gene sequencing, hospital leaders hope to help physicians better predict cancer risk and provide more accurate diagnoses Two Boston health systems, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), are the latest to open preventative gene sequencing clinics and compete with consumer gene sequencing companies, such as 23andMe and Ancestry, as well as with other hospital systems that already provide similar services. This may provide...

Does Precision Oncology Offer Patients Superior Treatment Therapies? Anatomic Pathologists Will Be Interested to Learn Why Oncology Experts Disagree

Dec 30, 2019 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations, Precision Medicine

Number of patients eligible for genome-driven oncology therapy is increasing, but the percentage who reportedly benefit from the therapy remains at less than 5% Advances in precision medicine in oncology (precision oncology) are fueling the need for clinical laboratory companion diagnostic tests that help physicians choose the best treatment protocols. In fact, this is a fast-growing area of clinical diagnostics for the nation’s anatomic pathologists. However, some experts in the field of...

23andMe Invites Customers to Add Health and Drug Data to Stored Genetic Test Results, Encroaching on Markets Where Both Apple and Clinical Laboratories Generate Revenue

Dec 27, 2019 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Combining consumers’ health data, including clinical laboratory test results, to genetic data for predispositions to chronic diseases could be key to developing targeted drugs and precision medicine treatments Genetic testing company 23andMe is beta testing a method for combining customers’ private health data—including clinical laboratory test results and prescription drug usage—with their genetic data to create the largest database of its kind. Such information—stored securely but accessible...

Harvard Researchers Study Whether Joint Commission Accrediting Results in Better Outcomes for Patients and Whether Accredited Hospitals Produce Better Outcomes than State-Reviewed Hospitals

Dec 23, 2019 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement

In response to Harvard’s conclusions, the Joint Commission claimed the study contained “factual errors” and “multiple methodological flaws” in strong rebuttals to findings Today’s emphasis on value-based healthcare rewards hospitals, physicians, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare service providers for improved patient outcomes. But does hospital accreditation play a role in those improved outcomes? A study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggests that hospital...