Tech Companies Suggest Ways Location Tracking Could Help Health Authorities Fight the COVID-19 Coronavirus by Identifying People Who May Need Clinical Laboratory Testing

Apr 24, 2020 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, International Laboratory News, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Privacy concerns have one tech giant suggesting alternatives to sharing potentially identifiable location tracking data Expect an interesting debate on the use of location tracking as a way to manage this and future pandemics. It is a debate that has implications for clinical laboratories. After all, if location tracking identifies individuals who may have been exposed to an infectious disease, will health authorities want those individuals to be immediately tested? Location tracking has been...

Serological Antibody Tests a ‘Potential Game Changer’ and Next Phase in Efforts to Combat the Spread of COVID-19 That Give Clinical Laboratories an Essential Role

Apr 20, 2020 | Instruments & Equipment, International Laboratory News, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

IVD Companies and medical laboratories are developing serological survey testing that will enable them to determine how widespread COVID-19 has become While medical laboratories gear up for testing to detect SARS-CoV-2—the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness—efforts also are underway for expanded use of serological tests that can detect whether an individual’s immune systems has developed antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as serological surveys that...

Can Consumers Collect Their Own Biological Specimens for Direct-to-Consumer SARS-CoV-2 Tests? FDA Says ‘No’ to Clinical Labs Announcing Such Tests

Apr 15, 2020 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Following criticism over delays in authorizing medical LDT COVID-19 tests, the FDA swiftly shut down consumer at-home specimen collection schemes Banning COVID-19 tests that rely on consumers’ collecting their own specimens at home is one example where the federal US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took remarkably swift action. It’s also interesting to note how some business people—who lack formal training in clinical laboratory medicine—often are ready to seize any opportunity to sell lab...

Because of the COVID-19 Outbreak, AACC Reschedules Its Annual Conference to December in Chicago and Executive War College Reschedules Its Conference in New Orleans to July

Apr 8, 2020 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, International Laboratory News, 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, News From Dark Daily, Precision Medicine

Two major clinical laboratory conferences reschedule, as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to disrupt long-planned events; Many labs are losing money as fewer patients visit physicians This week, the ongoing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic was responsible for two important developments in the clinical laboratory industry. Both involved the rescheduling of major annual conferences. In both cases, conference organizers are placing different bets on when they...

Chinese Firm to Replace Clinical Laboratory Test Kits After Spanish Health Authorities Report Tests from China’s Shenzen Bioeasy Were Only 30% Accurate

Apr 3, 2020 | Instruments & Equipment, International Laboratory News, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Bioeasy stands behind the accuracy of its coronavirus test kits and, in a statement, questioned whether they were being used correctly How accurate are the SARS-CoV-2 test kits being offered by different in vitro diagnostics companies, as well as the internally-developed COVID-19 tests developed by individual medical laboratories, both here in the United States and in other countries? It’s a question that has not been addressed by the news media nor by healthcare regulators. That is why a...

New Price Transparency Shopping Tools Help Healthcare Consumers Make Educated Choices and Save Money Using Smartphones and Other Devices

Apr 1, 2020 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Price shopping for clinical laboratories and other healthcare services and surgical procedures creates a ‘healthy competitive environment,’ an Optum executive noted With the threat of infection from SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19) on the minds of most Americans, price transparency for medical care is more critical than ever, and new smartphone applications (apps) are helping patients shop for the best prices and quality when selecting healthcare, including clinical laboratory...