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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Clinical Chemists and Medical Laboratory Scientists Gather in Chicago for American Association of Clinical Chemistry and ASCLS Joint Meeting

Among the hundreds of lab industry vendors exhibiting, there were more companies showing LIS and lab informatics products this year than last year

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—Anytime 20,000 clinical chemists and medical laboratory scientists gather in the same place, at the same time, there is sure to be many different opinions about the state of laboratory medicine and key trends in the clinical laboratory testing marketplace.

That was certainly true of this year’s annual meetings of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Scientists (ASCLS) that took place here in the Windy City and ended yesterday. Your Dark Daily editor was in attendance and saw many interesting things during the exhibition, which opened on Tuesday and closed Thursday.

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This Week in Houston, Clinical Laboratory Industry’s Largest Trade Show Provided a Look at New Diagnostic Technologies

Many IVD vendors are cautiously optimistic about the “state of the medical lab industry,” but recognize that declining reimbursement for lab tests is now harming many lab organizations

DATELINE: Houston, Texas—Once again, the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) attracted a large crowd for their joint annual meeting. And, as is true every year, the activity on the exhibit floor provides valuable insights about the state of the clinical laboratory.

Your Dark Daily editorial team was here all week and had conversations with many executives from in vitro diagnostic  (IVD) manufacturers, laboratory informatics vendors, and specialty test companies.

Nation’s Largest Trade Show for Medical Laboratory Vendors (more…)

When Recruiting and Training Generation Y to Work in Medical Laboratories, U.S.A and U.K. Face Same Challenges

DATELINE—BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND: Workforce issues in medical laboratories received special attention here at the 10th Annual Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM) conference that ended last week. Probably the major concern going forward is how to attract, train, and sustain adequate numbers in the medical laboratory workforce.

Two speakers addressed medical laboratory workforce issues at a strategic level, with an overview about developments in the United Kingdom and the United States. Speaking about the United Kingdom was Professor Sue Hill, OBE, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer for the National Health Service. Speaking about the United States was Elissa Passiment, Ed.M., CLS (NCA), Executive Vice President, American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS). (more…)

Positive News for Clinical Pathology Laboratories on Compensation for Medical Technologists and Clinical Laboratory Scientists

Laboratory professionals with four years of higher education do earn comparable compensation when compared to other professions requiring a four-year degree

Never say that readers of Dark Daily are not ready to express opinions and speak out! On Monday, we published an e-briefing that reported on the inclusion of “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians” on a list of the “Most-Educated and Least-Paid Professions” that was compiled by a reporter at 24/7 Wall St.

Essentially, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics Database, this reporter had ranked “Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians” as number three of seven professions which were most-educated and least paid. (See Dark Daily, Bad News for Clinical Pathology Laboratories: Med Techs Rank Number 3 on List of Most-Educated and Least-Paid Professions,” December 19, 2011.) (more…)

Clinical Chemists and Medical Laboratory Professionals Gather at AACC’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta

Lots of products involving molecular diagnostics and genetic testing were on display at the exhibition

DATELINE: Atlanta, Georgia—Yesterday was the close of the 2011 annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC). Organizers played host to what—pre-event—they announced was a record-breaking number of exhibit booths sold to vendors at the exhibition. Despite a rather quiet economy, there was plenty of traffic and much interest in products on display in the clinical laboratory.

Many lab industry vendors believe that there is pent-up demand by medical laboratories because of the long recession in 2008 and 2009, combined with the clamp-down on laboratory spending that resulted as hospitals and health systems slashed budgets during the recession to protect their cash flows. But now, having deferred equipment replacement for up to three full years, a number of clinical pathology laboratories have returned to the marketplace to acquire new medical laboratory testing equipment.

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