GAO Report Shows Medicare Advantage Plans Could Be a Disadvantage for Seniors with Health Issues; Narrow Networks Continue to Impact Smaller Clinical Laboratories
Tight provider networks have some seniors dropping private plans after losing access to ‘preferred doctors and hospitals’ and experiencing issues with ‘access to care’ Medicare Advantage Plans continue to rise in popularity. That trend has implications for clinical...
read moreAustralia Moves Closer to Nationwide Electronic Health Record as Nation’s Leading Pathology Laboratories Join Initiative
Doctors’ advocacy organization praises potential of ‘My Health Record’ but voices concerns about functionality, interoperability, and added burden placed on providers Australia’s goal of implementing a nationwide electronic health record (EHR) system received a major...
read moreReal-time In Vitro Diagnostic Results at the Point of Care? Possible? One San Diego-based IVD Developer Says “Yes!”
Genalyte’s cloud-based Maverick Detection System could potentially change how and when doctors order blood draws, altering long-standing clinical laboratory workflows Anatomic pathologists and medical laboratory leaders may be aware of efforts in the in vitro...
read moreCMS Seeks ‘New Direction’ for its Innovation Center as the Agency Evaluates Current Value-Based Payment Models for Medicare Services, including Medical Laboratory Testing
Federal agency receives input on eight focus areas as it looks for ways to enable providers ‘to design and offer new approaches to delivering care’ Medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups preparing for the transition from fee-for-service healthcare will...
read moreChildren’s Study Determines MicroRNA in Saliva Can Accurately Diagnose Acute and Prolonged Concussion Symptoms; Could Lead to New Medical Laboratory Tests and Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Research published in JAMA Pediatrics reports that non-invasive salivary microRNA testing identifies prolonged concussion symptoms with 85% accuracy Sports-related concussions are always tragic, but doubly so when they involve child athletes. Quick diagnoses and...
read moreUniversity of Michigan Researchers Use “Labyrinth” Chip Design in Clinical Trial to Capture Circulating Tumor Cells of Different Cancer Types
Research goal was to isolate circulating tumor cells in venipuncture samples with improved purity compared to standard spiral chips Many research teams are pursuing the goal of creating assays that detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that would allow earlier and...
read moreMetabolomics Promises to Provide New Diagnostic Biomarkers, Assays for Personalized Medicine and Medical Laboratories
Researchers are finding multiple approaches to metabolomic research and development involving disparate technology platforms and instrumentation Human metabolome has been discovered to be a wealth of medical laboratory biomarkers for diagnosis, therapy, and patient...
read moreSudden Shutdown of Claritas Genomics After Five Years as A Leading Source of Pediatric Genetic Testing Surprises Clinical Laboratory Industry
Operations ended last week after reports suggested the end came as a result of misalignment of goals among investors in a lab company many considered to be successful One contributing factor the surprise announcement that the owners of Claritas Genomics were closing...
read moreMedical Laboratory Screening Tests for Inherited Genetic Disorders Gain Popularity Amid Global Genetic Testing Market Double-Digit Revenue Growth
Lack of Medicare or third-party payer coverage for most genetic screening tests in healthy adults is not discouraging development of new gene testing products With the global anatomic pathology genetic testing market poised to reach $9.8 billion by 2025, clinical...
read moreConsumer Reaction to High-Deductible Health Plans and Rising Out-of-Pocket Costs Continues to Impact Physicians and Clinical Laboratories
Because many Americans are ‘concerned’ about how they would pay an unexpected medical bill, they now are seeking upfront information about treatment costs and financing options Clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups that depend on reliable sources of...
read moreUniversity of Maryland Study Determines Nearly 50% of All Healthcare in America is Delivered in Emergency Departments, Validating What Hospital Medical Laboratories Have Long Known
Meanwhile, some insurance payers are dropping coverage for certain medical treatments they consider “unnecessary,” leaving hospitals and their medical laboratories to wonder if they will be reimbursed for the tests they perform Hospital-based medical laboratories and...
read moreDevelopments in MALDI Mass Spectrometry Could Lead to Advancements in Cancer Imaging Technologies for Anatomic Pathologists and Clinical Laboratories
This may especially benefit cancer research and treatment thanks to MALDI’s ability to provide pathologists with a view of the whole-tissue micro-environment Though it may be years before Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry finds use...
read moreNext-Generation Laboratory Information Management Systems Will Deliver Medical Laboratory Test Results and Patient Data to Point of Care, Improving Outcomes, Efficiency, and Revenue
Moving to market are the newest generation of LIMS products designed to serve clinical laboratories while supporting quality reporting initiatives and new sources of revenue It was Bob Dylan who made a big hit out of the song, “The Times, They Are...
read moreIn the Field of Nano-Scale Diagnostics, Many Researchers Are Developing ‘Lab-on-Skin’ Technologies That Can Monitor Many Clinical Laboratory Biomarkers
Lab-on-skin is the latest concept to join the lab-on-a-chip, lab-in-a-needle, and lab-on-paper field, as researchers continue to seek ways to miniaturize medical laboratory tests Move over, lab-on-a-chip and lab-on-paper. There’s a new diagnostic...
read morePrecision Medicine Requires Targeted Cancer Therapies, but Payers Reluctant to Pay for Some Genetic Testing Needed to Match a Patient with Right Drug
Clinical labs and pathology groups know how advances in targeted therapies and genomics far outpace providers’ and patients’ ability to know how best to use and pay for them. One fascinating development on the road to precision medicine is that many new cancer drugs now in clinical trials will require a companion genetic test to identify patients with tumors that will respond to a specific therapeutic drug.
read moreInnovative Pathologists and Clinical Laboratory Scientists Use Diagnostic Management Teams to Support Physicians with More Accurate, Faster Diagnoses
At institutions such as University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, pathologists are using diagnostic management teams to improve patient outcomes while lowering the medical costs Diagnostic Management Teams are a hot...
read moreFederal Regulators Issue Notice to DTC Test Company Orig3n That Its Purchase of Interleukin Genetics Could Involve CLIA Compliance Issues
CMS sends letter to Orig3n notifying the genetic test company that it may not have the required certifications to market its genetic tests Orig3n’s recent ill-fated “DNA Day” promotion to offer free genetic tests during an NFL football game this past fall pushed...
read moreResearchers Discover Link between Gut Bacteria and the Effectiveness of Certain Cancer Drugs; Knowledge May Lead to New Types of Clinical Laboratory Tests
Microbiome is once again leading scientists toward a new understanding of how human gut bacteria can impact the efficacy and side-effects of certain cancer therapies Anatomic pathology researchers already know that a person’s genetics can affect the results of cancer...
read moreCollaborative Global Study Casts New Light on Breast Cancer’s Genetic Roots; Will Soon Provide Anatomic Pathologists and Clinical Laboratories with New Tools to Diagnose and Treat Cancer
In the same way that BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations helped pathologists identify women with increased breast cancer risks in the late 1990s, this new study isolates an additional 72 mutations medical laboratories may soon use to diagnose breast cancer and assess risk...
read moreEurope Implements New Anatomic Pathology Guidelines to Reduce Nurse Exposure to Formaldehyde and Other Toxic Histology Chemicals
University of Turin study in Italy shows under-vacuum sealing systems reduce exposure to formaldehyde by 75% among nurses handling tissue biopsy specimens during surgery Histology technicians and anatomic pathology (AP) laboratories regularly handle dangerous...
read moreResearchers in Two Separate Studies Discover Gut Microbiome Can Affect Efficacy of Certain Cancer Drugs; Will Findings Lead to a New Clinical Laboratory Test?
If the link between certain types of gut bacteria and improved effectiveness of certain cancer treatments can be leveraged, then medical laboratories could soon have another diagnostic tool to use in supporting physicians with cancer care From improving treatments for...
read moreNetherlands University Researchers Question Validity of More Than 30,000 Published Scientific Studies; Findings Have Implications for Medical Laboratories
Radboud University researchers fear oncology, molecular biology, pharmacology, and other cell-centric medical research efforts are at risk due to verification that at least 30,000 studies published in 33,000 scientific journals included data derived from misidentified...
read moreEHR Systems Continue to Cause Burnout, Physician Dissatisfaction, and Decreased Face-to-Face Patient Care
New study published in the Annals of Family Medicine (AFM) indicates that despite efforts to improve EHR usability and efficiency, primary care physicians continue to spend more than 50% of their workdays on computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and other clerical...
read more3D-Printed Robot May Change Breast Biopsies Surgery and Boost Accuracy of Anatomic Pathology Cancer Diagnoses
‘Stormram 4’ fits inside MRI bore and enables ‘nearly real-time imaging guidance’ to achieve sub-millimeter precision in reaching targets Cancer surgeons perform an estimated 1.7 breast biopsies each year, according to the American Association of Preferred Provider...
read moreHuman Antibodies in Medical Laboratory May Be Key to Immunity and Preventing Diseases Such as Influenza A
Scientists with Francis Crick Institute and Ragon Institute have successfully created human antibodies in vitro that can be made to recognize specific antigens in the human body; Could lead to new treatments for cancer and other infectious diseases It’s been...
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Newly-Available Medicare Utilization and Price Data for Pathology: Why It’s Important to your Lab and How to Use it to Boost Revenue and Pathologist Compensation
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Deep Medicare Fee Cuts Are Coming to your Clinical Laboratory: What You Must Do Now, Why Congress Might Intervene, and Action Steps to Protect Your Lab’s Financial Integrity
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Simple, Swift Approaches to Lab Test Utilization Management: Proven Ways for Your Clinical Laboratory to Use Data and Collaborations to Add Value
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The Growing Role of Quality Management Systems In Clinical Laboratory Accreditation and Licensure
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Getting Paid for Lab Tests in Today’s Tough Managed Care Marketplace: Real-World Success Strategies to Increase Lab Revenue, Deliver More Value, and Achieve Higher Patient Satisfaction Scores
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