Nov 16, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Provides doctors with fast access to care pathways and diagnostic rules
Most pathologists and laboratory professionals in the United States are unaware of a unique clinical resource called the “Map of Medicine”. This was started in the United Kingdom and utilizes evidence-based medicine (EBM) guidelines in the care pathways it makes available to clinicians who visit the web site.
Map of Medicine shows how the Internet is already changing the way some physicians access knowledge and use it to advance their clinical practice. The Map of Medicine also illustrates a way that evidence-based medicine guidelines can quickly become available to clinicians. Given the pre-eminent role that laboratory testing plays in diagnosis, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will want to learn more about why physicians find it useful to access the Map of Medicine as they work with patients.
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Nov 11, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Man kills his estranged wife, then himself after shooting his way into the laboratory
Yesterday, in Tualatin, a quiet suburb city near Portland, Oregon, a gunman entered a laboratory facility owned by Legacy MetroLab and shot his estranged wife. He then killed himself. Two other individuals in the laboratory were injured, including a man admitted to a local hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.
Dark Daily believes this is the second reported incident of a shooting attack within a clinical laboratory facility in the nation’s history. It is a reminder that clinical laboratory managers and pathologists should have contingency plans for dealing with a wide range of unexpected situations and emergencies.
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Nov 9, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Hospital/commercial lab JV finds success in competitive Salt Lake City market
DATELINE: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Since its formation less than two years ago, MountainStar Clinical Laboratories, LLC, has more than doubled in size. This unique laboratory outreach joint venture is a partnership between MountainStar Healthcare and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML).
To learn more about this fast-growing joint venture, last week, Dark Daily traveled to Salt Lake City to visit MountainStar Clinical Laboratories, LLC . First, some background about this partnership.
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Oct 22, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Labs Must Report Privacy Breaches of 500 or More to the Media
Call it HITECH collides with HIPAA! Most pathologists and lab executives know that passage of the HITECH Act was the part of 2009’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also referred to as “ARRA” or the “stimulus bill”). HITECH provides incentives for the expanded use of electronic health records by physicians and other providers.
But what is lesser known is how the HITECH Act creates new legal obligations of covered entities and business associates under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA). These new legal mandates are designed to protect the privacy and security of the patient. They require clinical laboratories and all providers to take specific actions whenever patient privacy is breached.
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Oct 12, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
More medical tourists may also contribute to further globalization of lab testing
Medical tourism continues to be a force with the potential to exert significant influence on healthcare in the United States. For that reason, experts have weighed in recently on how efforts to reform healthcare may either inhibit or encourage growth in the number of Americans opting to become medical tourists.
Just as medical tourism has the potential to be transformative to certain aspects of healthcare here in this country, Dark Daily believes that medical tourism may also encourage greater globalization of pathology services and clinical laboratory testing. For both reasons, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will find recent commentary to be enlightening. (more…)
