Regenstrief Institute Finds Fecal Immunochemical Test May Be as Effective as Colonoscopy at Detecting Colorectal Cancers

Doctors may begin ordering FITs in greater numbers, increasing the demand on clinical laboratories to process these home tests All clinical laboratory managers and pathologists know that timely screening for colon cancer is an effective way to detect cancer early, when it is easiest to treat. But, invasive diagnostic approaches such as colonoscopies are not popular with consumers. Now comes news of a large-scale study that indicates the non-invasive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) can be as...

Clinical Pathology Laboratory Managers Use Lessons in the Best of Medical Laboratory Quality to Improve Lab Operations and Patient Safety

Nation’s largest gathering of clinical laboratory Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement practitioners took place in New Orleans this week DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA—More than 300 of the nation’s leading quality improvement practitioners in clinical laboratory operations came together this week to share, learn, and master the best approaches to improving the quality of medical laboratory operations in ways that improve performance and productivity even while delivering substantial...

Health Insurers Encourage Physicians to Help Patients Use Cost and Quality Data to Select Providers, Including Medical Laboratories

Employers and health insurers want more consumers use healthcare cost estimator tools and pride when choosing a hospital, physician, or clinical laboratory Having put millions of consumers into high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) as one way to control healthcare costs, both employers and health insurers are now challenged to help these same consumers do better at using price and quality factors when selecting providers. One solution to this problem is to encourage physicians to play a greater...

Physician-Led Accountable Care Organizations May Offer Advantages for Clinical Laboratories

Last year, hospital-run ACOs outnumbered physician-led ACOs, but this year, the opposite is true, creating opportunities for pathologists and clinical laboratories Until recently, the popular wisdom was that hospitals and health systems would tend to play dominant roles in most accountable care organizations (ACOs). However, new data shows that physicians are holding their own in the formation and management of ACOs. This is an auspicious development for local clinical laboratories and...

IBM Watson Picks Advisory Board—but No Pathologist

Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists have an opportunity to expand the presence of laboratory medicine IBM (NYSE: IBM) recently issued a press release announcing its new Watson Healthcare Advisory Board (WHAB). The board is comprised of healthcare leaders with a broad range of research, medical and business expertise. Unfortunately, that expertise does not include pathology or specialists in laboratory medicine. “Watson represents a technology breakthrough that can help...
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