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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Consumers Increasingly Purchase Medical Laboratory Self-Test Kits for Blood Glucose, Cholesterol, and Colon Cancer Screening, according to Consumer Reports

The self-monitoring/self-test market is expected to swell to $19 billion by 2019, offering opportunities for pathologists and clinical laboratories to advise patients and ensure the proper use of home tests

Might the future of clinical laboratory tests be sitting on the shelf at your corner pharmacy right now? Patient self-testing and screening kits continue to garner the approvals of Consumer Reports’ medical advisors.

That’s happening because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to clear many do-it-yourself tests that traditionally were performed in medical laboratories by qualified personnel, much to the chagrin of some doctors.

Empowered healthcare consumers are checking their cholesterol, monitoring their diabetes, and more, using health screening kits that range from $8 to $175, according to a Consumer Reports on Health article, which advised consumers to use self-tests judiciously and share the results with their physicians. (more…)

ACOs Are Learning to Use Big Data

Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers could find opportunity to add value as providers learn to use big data to improve patient outcomes and lower costs

Early adopter accountable care organizations (ACOs) are establishing data warehouses. This is a first step in collecting and analyzing healthcare big data. The move toward integrated care makes big data critical to an ACO’s success. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will want to follow the healthcare big data trend because laboratory test results will be a major component of that data.

The Goal of Healthcare Big Data

The goal for healthcare big data is twofold: 1) develop the ability to aggregate a vast amount of data from wide-ranging sources, and 2) use that data in real time to improve care and lower costs, a recent story published in Modern Healthcare (MH) reported. New performance-based reimbursement models mean that big data analytics will be essential for ACOs to succeed going forward. (more…)

Predicted Growth for In Vitro Diagnostics Markets Globally Signals Upward Trajectory in Medical Laboratory Business

Growth in global IVD markets is indicator of increasing demand for clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology testing

During the next 24 months, the global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market is predicted to exceed $50-billion in revenues. However, this robust growth has an upside and a downside for the clinical laboratories and pathology groups that purchase IVD analyzers, reagents, and consumables.

In a recent story in about the IVD industry, Frost & Sullivan, a global consulting and research firm, made predictions in different segments of the IVD market. It won’t surprise pathologists and clinical laboratory managers that the two fastest-growing segments are molecular and tissue diagnostics. (more…)

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