News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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COVID-19 Test Sales Fall Nearly 90% at Abbott in Q2, a Clear Marker to Clinical Laboratories That the Pandemic Has Passed

Sales of SARS-CoV-2 tests at other IVD companies, including Roche Diagnostics and Danaher’s lab businesses also report declines in COVID-19 test revenue Clinical laboratory leaders and pathologists seeking a marker that the COVID-19 pandemic has passed may have it in...

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Genetic Testing of Wastewater Now Common in Detecting New Strains of COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases

Advances in genome sequencing give virologists and microbiologists new tools for tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants to their sources Wastewater surveillance has emerged as an essential tool in the detection and tracking of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus within communities....

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Stanford Genetic Researcher Discusses Value of Rapid Whole Human Genome Sequencing in Pursuit of a Faster, More Accurate Diagnosis and Treatment Plan

Genetic scientists show how rapid WGS is helping doctors determine best treatments for patients with life-threatening conditions Clinical laboratory scientists will recall that last year, Dark Daily covered how researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine had...

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Medical Laboratory Workers Again on Strike at Large Clinical Laboratory Company Locations around New Zealand

Strike may delay critical blood testing and cause postponement of many surgical procedures Medical technicians, phlebotomists, and clinical laboratory scientists in New Zealand are once again going on strike for fairer pay in various areas around the island nation....

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Australian Medical Laboratory Worker Who Allegedly Swapped Tissue Samples to Damage Co-Worker’s Reputation Now ‘Banned for Life’ from Providing Health Services

Australian government rules lab employee’s rogue actions jeopardized patient care In an example of “if something can go wrong in the lab, it will,” a senior histology laboratory worker at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia, has been banned for life from...

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San Francisco International Airport First in the Nation to Test Wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus

In partnership with the CDC, the collected samples will be sent to approved clinical laboratories for testing as a way to monitor for traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus Microbiologists and virologists engaged in tracing sources of viral infections will be interested to...

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Some Experts Predict That Nonprofit Healthcare Models Will Not Survive Healthcare’s Transformation

As mergers and acquisitions of large-scale hospital systems continue, their clinical laboratories feel the pressure of deteriorating finances and ongoing staff shortages Eroding economics is often the major reason why a health system agrees to be acquired or merged....

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Broad Institute Study Finds Mother’s Microbiome Influences Development of Baby’s Gut Bacteria During Pregnancy and After Birth

Research could lead to new microbiome assays that clinical laboratories could use to identify genetic and other health conditions in developing baby It would seem to be common sense, but now a study conducted by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard confirms that a...

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New, Cryptic COVID-19 Lineage Found in Ohio Wastewater by Molecular Virologist Tracking Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

Microbiology team has tracked 37 unique strains of the coronavirus since they began researching lineages two years ago Microbiologists and clinical laboratory scientists will be interested to learn about the discovery of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus...

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Hospital, Health System Mergers and Acquisitions Impact Clinical Laboratories

Post-merger, a first goal is often to achieve cost savings by consolidating hospital laboratory testing into fewer medical laboratory sites Major integrated delivery network (IDN) healthcare systems continue to acquire other hospitals. These deals are getting larger...

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Precision Medicine May Have a New Lung Cancer Treatment That Can Be Staged with an EGFR Test as a Companion Diagnostic

There’s evidence that a cancer drug can cut deaths from lung cancer by as much as 50% when pathology testing indicates the patient has the EGFR mutation Results from a decade-long clinical trial indicate that lung cancer patients with the epidermal growth factor...

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Major Data Breaches at Hospitals, Clinical Laboratories, and Health Plans Continue to Put Patient Data at Risk

Lapses in security measure testing can give healthcare employees a false sense of protection against data breaches, says cybersecurity expert Cyberattacks on our nation’s hospitals, clinical laboratories, other healthcare organizations, and health plans, continue to...

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Different US/UK Initiatives Each Plan to Sequence the Genomes of 100,000 Newborns to Identify Treatable Rare Diseases Undetectable to Standard Screening Tests

Both programs seek to achieve early diagnosis by detecting a range of disorders where an existing treatment can be given as early as possible Two separate genetic sequencing projects—one in the United Kingdom and one in New York City—aim to perform whole-genome...

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Telemedicine Provider for GRAIL Genetic Testing Laboratory Wrongly Alerts More than 400 Patients They May Have Cancer

Incident serves as a reminder that all clinical laboratories can be just one mistake away from reporting erroneous results to a number of doctors and patients In May, more than 400 patients who agreed to take the Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood test...

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Clinical Laboratory Owner Receives 15-Year Federal Prison Sentence, Hefty Fine as DOJ Hits Hard on Healthcare Fraud Cases

US Department of Justice sends a strong message that it will continue to root out fraud involving clinical laboratory owners and operators Arkansas clinical laboratory owner/operator Billy Joe Taylor has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and ordered to pay...

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Continued Cyberattacks on Hospitals, Clinical Laboratories, and Other Providers Cause Closures as Hackers Grow in Sophistication

Cybersecurity experts recommend clinical laboratories have in place a plan for performing tests and distributing results prior to a cyberattack Hospitals of all sizes continue to be prime targets for sophisticated cyberattacks, where hackers remotely disable a...

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McMaster University Uses AI Algorithm, Machine Learning to Find Antibiotic That Neutralizes Common Antimicrobial Resistant Superbug

Further development of this novel technology could result in new, more sensitive assays for clinical laboratories to use in the effort to improve antimicrobial stewardship in hospitals Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, have used artificial...

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CDC Study: Rate of Nosocomial Infections in Nation’s Hospitals Increased During the COVID-19 Pandemic

CDC’s findings are a setback for the national effort to encourage hospitals and their clinical laboratories to reduce the number of nosocomial infections and practice better antimicrobial stewardship Nosocomial infections—also known as hospital-acquired...

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Gen-Z Students Are Receptive to Using Genetic Tests to Learn Addiction Risk for Alcohol Use Disorder, Rutgers Study Finds

This research indicates consumers could increase their demand for clinical laboratory testing for genetic risk factors associated with addiction Rutgers University researchers recently published a study of hundreds of college students that suggests there could be high...

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Two International Surveys Show Doctors and Consumers See Increasing Value in Genetic Testing

As demand for genetic tests increases, so does the call for clinical laboratories to process and analyze the data, and work with ordering physicians to explain test results to patients According to a 23andMe press release announcing the results of two national...

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Compared to Telehealth/Virtual Visits, In-person Genetics Counseling Leads to Higher Clinical Lab Test Completion Rates, Study Shows

Research shows face-to-face genetics counseling overcomes barriers to proceeding with genetic testing and increases chances of catching cancer early Research funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has found that when patients receive in-person genetics...

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‘Intelligent Microscopes’ Controlled by AI Record Biological Events That Happen Faster than Humans Can Record

New study shows how artificial neural networks are leading to improved microscopic capabilities and precision that could help researchers better understand causes of tumors Biophysicists at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have...

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Health Care Cost Institute: Employers in Seven States Pay Up to 6X More for Hospital Lab Tests as Compared to Same Tests in Doctor Offices and Independent Labs

New report notes that variations in price for common clinical laboratory tests should not exist ‘regardless of clinical setting’ and yet they do Hospital laboratory leaders may soon observe employers—especially those in seven particular states—shopping around a bit...

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