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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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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New Insight into Protein Interactome May Spur Drug Development and Novel Clinical Laboratory Tests

Study may lead to repurposing existing drugs that are proven to be safe for the treatment of related diseases as the interactome becomes the subject of more research efforts Researchers from multiple scientific institutions working together have begun using the...

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Providers and Legislators Seek Changes in Rules Implementing No Surprises Act and How Physicians, Labs, and Other Providers Can Bill Patients

Provider groups and members of Congress say the rules favor payers, federal judge agrees, but path forward in how providers bill patients remains unclear Groups representing healthcare providers—including pathologists—are challenging the Biden administration’s...

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UCSB Researchers Discover Superior Culture Medium for Bacterial Testing, along with New Insights into Antimicrobial Resistance

Study may also result in new clinical laboratory tools for determining antimicrobial resistance and efficacy of existing antibiotics Researchers find it increasingly difficult to develop antibiotics that are effective against strains of bacteria that display...

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New Joint Commission Report Shows Number of Adverse Patient Safety Events Increasing

From some adverse events, clinical laboratory tests may be integrally tied to delays in treatment and faulty care management events that cause patient harm and deaths Adverse patient safety events are increasing according to The Joint Commission (TJC), a nonprofit...

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Global Biolabs 2023 Report Shows Most Dangerous Pathogen Testing Laboratories across the Globe

Of 27 BSL-4 labs assessed, Global Biolabs ranked only seven as having ‘good’ biosafety management In a new report, a research firm assessed the conditions at the handful of laboratories across the world that handle the most dangerous pathogens. In the wake of the...

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Southern California Physician and Clinical Laboratory Owners Charged in Federal Crackdown on Pandemic-Related Billing Fraud

Federal prosecutors build the new healthcare-related fraud cases on previous nationwide enforcement actions from 2022 Federal charges have once again been brought against a number of physicians and clinical laboratory owners in what the US Department of Justice...

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New $52 Million Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory to Be Constructed in Dallas County, Texas

Level 3 bio labs handle Ebola, smallpox and other deadly diseases, and may play a role in research into the human genome Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a concerted effort to improve public health laboratories and increase the growth of bioresearch....

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Private Healthcare on Rise as Britain’s Public Healthcare System Faces Horrific Conditions, Walkouts

Challenges abound as the NHS tries to recover before UK citizens move to private insurance; some patients have wait times of up to six months for a histopathology diagnosis of cancer Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is in dire straits. The UK’s vaunted...

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