Aug 19, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Improved patient health status for controlling high blood pressure augurs well for clinical laboratory testing industry
There’s a big win in the decade-long national effort to reduce high blood pressure in a large number of Americans. Researchers and health policy experts are hailing this accomplishment as proof that patients, physicians, and payers can work together and measurably improve the state of the nation’s health.
For pathologists and clinical laboratory managers, this is a significant development, because medical laboratory testing plays an essential role in diagnosing disease and monitoring the patient’s progress. Therefore, evidence that a national effort on different chronic diseases—such as high blood pressure—can measurably improve the state of health of large numbers of patients helps affirm the value of clinical lab tests in reaching these goals. (more…)
Jun 20, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Such cognitive robots may also find a role in clinical pathology laboratories
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers might soon have new cognitive robotic tools to help them diagnose disease. Engineers and emergency medicine specialists at Vanderbilt University have joined together to develop a system of cognitive robots that would reduce the wait times physicians and staff experience in America’s emergency departments (ED).
These cognitive robots would be programmed to perform basic tests and deliver results on patients. By handling these functions, the Vanderbilt development team believes that their cognitive robots would reduce the workload on triage nurses and speed the process of treating patients in the emergency room. (more…)
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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