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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Pathology Laboratories in the United Kingdom to Be Challenged by New Reimbursement Models and the NHS’ Latest Call for Faster Innovation

Pathologists and medical laboratory managers will take up these issues at the upcoming Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine Conference in Birmingham, England on January 29-30, 2013

Medical laboratory testing in the United Kingdom is experiencing change at an accelerating rate. These changes reflect ongoing reforms within the National Health System (NHS), which is itself dealing with increased demand for healthcare services in the face of limited budgets.

That means providers in the United Kingdom—including pathology laboratories—are being asked to deliver more clinical services even as budgets are held constant or even reduced. There are also calls for all providers of clinical services to become more innovative in ways that improve the quality of patient services while reducing the overall cost of care. (more…)

In United Kingdom, Clinical Pathology Laboratories Must Transform to Help Primary Care Physicians Achieve Improved Patient Outcomes

Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM) attracted another record crowd of clinical laboratory managers and pathologists

DATELINE—BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND: Healthcare in the United Kingdom is undergoing a host of reforms. Consequently, medical laboratories in this country are scrambling to evolve in ways that allow them to serve the new line-up of primary care trusts and hospital trusts, even as payment for pathology testing services must be negotiated with commissioning bodies.

The many changes unfolding within the National Health Service  (NHS) helped to attract a record crowd to the 10th Annual Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM), which was conducted in Birmingham, England. For the second year in a row, this conference was sold out.
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In the United Kingdom, Pathology and Medical Laboratory Testing Face Tough Challenges as the NHS Implements Reforms and Budget Cuts

Innovative pathology laboratory organizations in the UK and Europe will come together at the Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM) conference on January 31-February 1, 2012

For decades, the pathology and medical laboratory service in the United Kingdom has been the envy of many developed nations. But times change and the National Health Service (NHS) finds itself coping with increased demand, shrinking budgets, and soaring healthcare costs. As a result, the NHS is asking pathology testing labs in the UK to do more with less.

Consequently, the status quo for pathology and medical laboratory medicine in the United Kingdom is undergoing fundamental change—often at a rapid pace. In some areas, multiple hospital laboratories are being asked to consolidate into a single regional lab organization.

Another change is that price competition for pathology testing has become a factor. Within the NHS, primary care trusts now tender for pathology testing services and commission those pathology laboratories that bid the most competitive prices. The tender and commissioning process is creating new economic winners and losers among pathology laboratories throughout the United Kingdom. (more…)

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