Medical Laboratory Leaders Gather in the United Kingdom to Address Challenges of Shrinking Lab Budgets and Need to Upgrade Quality Assurance Performance

Nation’s healthcare system is in the midst of major clinical, organizational, and financial reforms—many of which require immediate responses by pathology laboratories BIRMINGHAM, England—Two major challenges in laboratory medicine were front and center this week when medical laboratory, a professionals and histopathologists gathered here in the United Kingdom (UK) for the eleventh annual Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM). One challenge is how to improve the quality of lab testing...

Across the Globe, ISO 15189 Enjoys Growing Acceptance by Governments for the Accreditation of Medical Laboratories in their Countries

Clinical laboratory organizations that seek to set themselves “apart from the herd” are seeking internally recognized quality accreditation, such as ISO 15189 Even as only a small number of clinical laboratories, in the United States have taken the steps to earn accreditation to ISO 15189 Medical Laboratories, it is a different story in other nations, particularly where no statutory requirement for medical laboratory licensure or accreditation exists. North of the border, the Canadian Province...

Fast Increase in the Number of Medical Homes Creates New Business Opportunities for Clinical Pathology Laboratories

The Increase in Certifications is the Result of New Reimbursement Models for Patient-Centered Medical Homes by Third-Party Payers There is much activity in the patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) sector of the U.S. healthcare system. A host of certification and accreditation bodies have set up shop and they report a rapid increase in the number of organizations they are recognizing as medical homes. That fact alone is significant news. It is evidence that physicians are spending substantial...

Clinical Pathology Laboratories Have Opportunity to Learn More about ISO 15189

A2LA, CAP, and QMP-LS to Participate in an Informational Event on January 20th     ISO 15189 is gaining a foothold among laboratories in the United States. Since the first clinical pathology laboratory in the U.S. earned accreditation to “ISO 15189:2007 Medical Laboratories” in 2008, there has been a steady increase in the number of clinical laboratories that have embarked on their own path to accreditation. This fall, The Dark Report and Dark Daily invited all three of the...

“Poorly-Developed” Clinical Pathology Laboratory Tests Subject of New York Times Story

Times reporter looks at issues affecting accuracy of different breast cancer tests Pathologists should consider a recent story about breast cancer testing in the New York Times to be a warning flag, similar to the warning flags that the Coast Guard flies along the coast to warn of an approaching hurricane. The subject of the story was “unclear tests” used to identify whether a breast cancer patient is a candidate for certain therapeutic drugs. The New York Times story was in response to the...
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