Harvard and Beth Israel Deaconess Researchers Use Machine Learning Software Plus Human Intelligence to Improve Accuracy and Speed of Cancer Diagnoses

Nov 16, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

Machine learning software may help pathologists make earlier and more accurate diagnoses In Boston, two major academic centers are teaming up to apply big data and machine learning to the problem of diagnosing cancers earlier and with more accuracy. It is research that might have major implications for the anatomic pathology profession. A collaborative effort between teams at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) has resulted in an innovation that could...

Pathologist/Researcher Offers Two Suggestions to Reduce Inappropriate Testing and Improve Patient Safety

Mar 23, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations

Whether either or both of these suggestions can be put into practice is the challenge most clinical laboratories face For Pathologist Ramy A. Arnaout, MD, DPhil, one of the biggest issues all pathologists face today is how to overcome the breakdown in cooperation between pathologists and referring physicians that can cause patient harm. An Associate Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Arnaout was a panel member during a webinar in...

Patient Safety Guru Lucian Leape, MD, Discusses How Medical Laboratories and Pathology Groups Can Do More to Improve Patient Safety

Feb 19, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology

Panel of webinar speakers included several physicians, a pathologist, and a director from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Patient safety continues to be a major factor in the ongoing transformation of healthcare in the United States. As it does, more scrutiny is being given to how medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups can contribute to improving patient safety. One example of the heightened scrutiny of patient safety as it relates to clinical laboratory testing services was...

Results of Undercover Assessment Suggest Clinical Laboratory Companies Need to Raise the Bar on Quality Control of Non-Invasive Prenatal Tests

Feb 9, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology

Three out of five NIPT laboratories returned normal or negative test results for samples taken from non-pregnant women in undercover test performance assessment Clinical laboratory companies that offer genetic tests may want to be on the alert. Secret shoppers are submitting specimens for the purpose of assessing the quality, the accuracy, and the clinical relevance of the proprietary medical laboratory tests they perform. One such report was published in GenomeWeb under the title “Undercover...

Study at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Determines that 30% of All Clinical Laboratory Tests Are Overused or Medically Unnecessary

Feb 28, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations

BIDMC researchers show that, on average, 30% of all lab tests may be unnecessary and that an equal percentage of tests should not be ordered at all Every pathologist and clinical laboratory professional knows how often physicians order a medical laboratory test that is inappropriate or unnecessary. That is a problem because, each time a clinician orders an inappropriate test, patient harm is possible. Yet this issue gets little attention from the medical profession at large. Thus, it is...