Apr 12, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Managing a multi-generation medical laboratory workforce is a daunting challenge
Here’s a challenge that’s unique in the modern history of medical laboratory management and operations. There are now four different generations of workers employed in clinical laboratories and pathology groups around the nation!
Experts tell us that each generation has a unique set of preferences, work ethics, and personal goals. Thus, a specific management initiative that typically motivates one generation may actually be a disincentive for another generation.
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Jan 3, 2011 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Pathology
High-Density Sequencing Chips Will Soon Be Able To Sequence Five Million SNPs
Rapid gene sequencing is catching the interest of progressive anatomic pathologists. These medical laboratory professionals are interested in using rapid gene sequencing technology to allow them to study tens and hundreds of genes on a patient specimen.
The technologies used in rapid gene sequencing are being developed and improved by a handful of biotech companies who are racing each other be first to deliver systems to the marketplace that can sequence whole human genomes at a cost of $1,000 or less. Some innovative medical laboratories are beginning to acquire these sequencing systems and explore how they might be used for clinical pathology laboratory testing. (more…)
Dec 16, 2010 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Demand for Capable Medical Laboratory Managers Will Skyrocket In Coming Years
Much is written about the acute—and soon to worsen—shortage of medical technologists (MT) and other skilled positions in America’s clinical laboratories and pathology groups. But what gets constantly overlooked is the equally critical need to have capable clinical laboratory managers, supervisors, directors, and administrators at every level in the medical laboratory organization.
This situation creates an unprecedented opportunity for those up-and-coming med techs and laboratory professionals who aspire to a management career in their clinical laboratory. Demand for their services is assured. But before they can step into management positions that come with increased responsibility and higher salaries, they must have the training, the experience, and the maturity required to be an effective manager. (more…)
Nov 1, 2010 | Laboratory Pathology
Clinical Pathology Laboratories Will Need to Securely Make Lab Test Data Available to Mobile Device Users
Use of handheld mobile devices by physicians and nurses is exploding. This trend has important implications for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, since clinicians quickly demand to access laboratory test data on their handheld mobile devices.
However, it is hospitals and health systems which are the first healthcare institutions that need to find a solution to enable appropriate use of handheld mobile devices by physicians, nurses, and other caregivers. Despite the efforts of chief information officers (CIOs) to maintain control over their institution’s informatics network, doctors and nurses are bringing their personal handheld mobile devices into the hospital and want to use them to access healthcare data.
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Oct 27, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Findings came after OIG audited the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Databank
Adverse actions taken by federal healthcare regulators against clinical pathology laboratories and other healthcare providers have not been reported to a public database as required by law. That is the finding of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), based on its study of the information contained in the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB).
During its audit of the HIPDB, the OIG determined that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) failed to report disciplinary actions it took against medical laboratories and other providers to the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB). According to the OIG’s recently-released report, CMS’s Division of Laboratory Services was responsible for many of the omissions.
Clinical Laboratory Actions Should Be Listed in the HIPDB
The HIPDB is a national database of adverse actions taken by federal agencies against “healthcare practitioners, providers and suppliers,” who are defined in the OIG report as medical doctors, laboratories, clinics, nursing homes, managed care facilities, prescription drug plans and durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers.
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