Jan 30, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
Two-day conference attracted an international audience of clinical laboratory scientists and addressed major trends in healthcare and laboratory medicine
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND—This week in the industrial heartland of the United Kingdom, pathologists and medical laboratory professionals gathered for the 13th Annual Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM) conference. The hot topics were new quality management standards for labs in the UK, innovative ways to improve utilization of clinical laboratory tests, and how first mover laboratories in the United Kingdom are using such disruptive technologies as digital pathology and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.
FiLM is co-produced annual by the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and The Dark Report. Over the past decade, it has grown into the largest conference in Europe that addresses the management and operation of medical laboratories and histopathology laboratories.
New Medical Laboratory Standards include ISO 15189
Currently, medical laboratories in the United Kingdom are adapting to changes in accreditation and external quality assurance (EQA—known as proficiency testing in the United States). By 2018, all labs in the UK will need to be accredited to the standards of ISO 15189: Medical Laboratories. As this happens, the United Kingdom will join a growing list of nations that now use ISO 15189 as a basis for licensure and accreditation of histopathology and medical laboratories. (more…)
Nov 17, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Innovative medical laboratories are developing ways to deliver more value to physicians ordering and using lab tests
TEMPLE, TEXAS—Changes now happening to healthcare and the practice of medical laboratory medicine were upfront and personal here during last Friday’s meeting of the Texas Section of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC).
An impressive crowd of more than 120 pathologists, Ph.D.s, and clinical laboratory professionals were present to learn from an all-star panel of lab industry innovators. Space does not allow a full report of all 10 speakers who addressed this conference, but a nugget or two from three of the morning speakers will illustrate some of the latest thinking on how medical laboratories and pathology groups can make the transition from a transactional business model (fee-for-service payment) to a value-added clinical model (bundled or shared per-patient-per-month fee).
After an opening presentation by your Dark Daily editor, Robert L. Michel, who identified the primary dynamics propelling healthcare’s transformation, the next speaker launched into the key issue associated with how clinical labs and pathology groups can deliver value. (more…)
May 22, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Smaller community laboratories serve many of the nation’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and ongoing medical lab fee cuts are having major negative consequences
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA—Last week, the National Independent Laboratory Association (NILA), in conjunction with the Association of American Bioanalysts (AAB), conducted its annual conference here. It was a useful snapshot on the state of health for independent community lab companies, particularly given the different reimbursement environment for clinical laboratory testing.
NILA’s members are primarily community clinical laboratories. They generate revenue anywhere from $1 million per year to around $100 million per year. It is believed that there are between 150 and 200 of these types of lab companies across the United States. Further, within the towns and cities they serve, these are often the only medical laboratory organizations that fill important testing niches that were abandoned years ago by the national public lab companies. (more…)
