May 4, 2012 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Clinical laboratories will increasingly provide emergency diagnostic services through mobile-unit near-patient testing
In an innovation designed to bring the laboratory to the patient, use of a mobile stroke unit (MSU) shortened the time to treatment decision for acute stroke patients. MSUs equipped with imaging systems and medical laboratory point-of-care testing proved capable of providing early diagnosis and intervention.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will immediately recognize the implications of these findings. This study demonstrates how clinicians are taking steps to move clinical laboratory testing out of the traditional central/core laboratory and bring it closer to the patient specifically to reduce the time-to-answer for certain medical conditions, like acute stroke.
One conclusion from this clinical study is that use of a mobile stroke unit offers a potential solution to the medical problem of stroke patients arriving at the hospital too late for treatment, wrote researchers in a study published in the medical journal The Lancet.
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Jan 18, 2012 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Clinical laboratory directors and pathologists will see threats and opportunities as microelectronic devices offer new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities
In vivo clinical diagnostic testing just took a giant step forward. A team of medical engineers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a prototype microchip sensor implant designed to continuously monitor tumors remotely.
Internal Detection Device Allows For Remote Monitoring In Real Time
The device, called IntelliTuM (Intelligent Implant for Tumor Monitoring), detects the level of dissolved oxygen in the fluid near the tumor, according to an online article at Technology Review, published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Mar 16, 2011 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Image quality of wireless device screens may already be good enough for basic digital pathology use
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared—for the first time—a mobile application (app) for Radiology Diagnostics, it set the scene for similar mobile apps to gain FDA clearance for use in evaluating digital pathology images.
Both pathologists and clinical laboratory managers are likely to be intrigued with how swiftly mobile computing technology can adapted for use with healthcare images. Earning the honors as the first mobile app to be cleared by the FDA for use with radiology images is the Mobile MIM software, developed by MIM Software, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio.
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Aug 7, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
MedPAC recommendation targets high-cost imaging done in physician’s offices
Following the lead of some private insurers, Medicare may soon require preauthorization for high-cost imaging tests—including CT, MRI and PET scans—done in physician offices. This is one of two strategies aimed at reducing payments for Part B physician radiology services that was recommended by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) in its report to Congress in March.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) estimates that preauthorization could save the Medicare program $220 million by 2014 and about $1 billion by 2019. To make preauthorization work, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would establish a panel of experts, to be known as a Radiology Benefits Managers (RBMs), to assist in evaluating and adjusting payment for potentially overvalued imaging services ordered by physicians with their own imaging facilities.
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