With Millennials soon to make up the majority of the medical laboratory workforce, it’s only natural that digital networking is gaining momentum at events like the Executive War College
At any hour during the in-person event in New Orleans, attendees scheduled meetups, participants asked questions to conference organizers, and users discussed important clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology topics. All of those interactions occurred within the Whova meeting application, which served as the Executive War College’s virtual guide.
In many ways, widespread use of the meeting app reflects a younger crowd that lives life on mobile phones. It’s not all that different than the changing face of the clinical lab industry as laboratory veterans retire and new faces come in, said Robert Michel, Founder of the Executive War College (EWC) and Editor-in-Chief of Dark Daily’s sister publication The Dark Report.
“It’s clear from the soaring use of our conference’s meeting app at the Executive War College that a younger generation is changing how business is conducted during and after a lab industry conference,” he observed. “Generation X and Millennials are steadily influencing how people network at live events.”
“It is remarkable that, among the 900 attendees at this year’s event, there were more than 750,000 impressions involving the sponsors and companies supporting this year’s conference,” said Robert Michel (above), Editor-in-Chief of Dark Daily and Founder of the Executive War College. “It shows that these attendees are serious about identifying solutions and vendors who can help them solve the various pain points in their laboratories.” (Photo copyright: Dark Intelligence Group.)
88% of Attendees at Executive War College Used the Event App
Usage numbers aggregated during the EWC conference of people who downloaded and used the meeting app speak for themselves:
A large majority of attendees (88%) downloaded the app.
Users sent 11,398 messages in the app.
There were 136 community board discussions posted.
Users created 80 meetups, with 677 people attending those gatherings.
There were 764,745 sponsor impressions in the app (in other words, clicks on a sponsor link or attendees navigating to sponsor material).
What the numbers don’t convey is that the conference’s meeting app was also fun to use!
Butterworth spoke during a special session at the Executive War College. She also took the No. 1 spot on the meeting app’s leaderboard for the event, collecting an impressive 225,900 points. Users gained points for the leaderboard based on activities they completed in the app.
Spirited competition ensued among the leaderboard’s top users, who jockeyed for position as the conference progressed. Plenty of off-topic conversations took place in the app as well, as attendees helped each other navigate New Orleans with tips about restaurants, local cemetery tours, or where to work out.
The leaderboard on the Whova meeting application (above) at the conclusion of this year’s Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management showed the top point gainers. (Photo copyright: Dark Intelligence Group.)
Clinical Laboratory Sponsors Reached Out to Attendees in New Ways
For sponsors and other vendors visiting the conference, the meeting app provided a different avenue to approach attendees beyond the typical networking that takes place during breaks, cocktail receptions, luncheons, and off-site parties.
For example, some sponsors shared white papers or YouTube videos via the app’s community boards or asked questions about topics of interest. Additionally, sponsors could respond directly to queries from attendees.
“At the Executive War College, there was clearly a sustained exchange between vendors looking to engage business development opportunities and participants who have pain points that need to be addressed and are looking for solutions,” Michel said.
The next Executive War College will return to New Orleans on April 25-26, 2023. Click on this link to access early registration discounts.
Labcorp, the commercial laboratory giant headquartered in Burlington, N.C., has billions of diagnostic test results archived. It takes samplings of those results and runs them through a machine learning algorithm that compares the data against a condition of interest, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD). Machine learning is a subdiscipline of AI.
Based on patterns it identifies, the machine learning algorithm can predict future test results for CKD based on patients’ testing histories, explained Stan Letovsky, PhD, Vice President for AI, Data Sciences, and Bioinformatics at Labcorp. Labcorp has found the accuracy of those predictions to be better than 90%, he added.
Labcorp also has created an AI-powered dashboard that—once layered over an electronic health record (EHR) system—allows physicians to configure views of an individual patient’s existing health data and add a predictive view based on the machine learning results.
For anatomic pathologists, this type of setup can quickly bring a trove of data into their hands, allowing them to be more efficient with patient diagnoses. The long-term implications of using this technology are significant for pathology groups’ bottom line.
Stan Letovsky, PhD (above), Vice President for AI, Data Sciences, and Bioinformatics at Labcorp, discussed AI developments in digital pathology during his keynote address at the 2022 Executive War College in New Orleans. “The best thing as a community that we can do for patients and their physicians with AI is to identify care gaps early on,” he said, adding, “If pathologists want to grow and improve their revenue, they have to be more productive.” (Photo copyright: Dark Intelligence Group).
Mayo Clinic Plans to Digitize 25 Million Glass Slides
In other AI developments, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has started a project to digitally scan 25 million tissue samples on glass slides—some more than 100 years old. As part of the initiative, Mayo wants to digitize five million of those slides within three years and put them on the cloud, said pathologist and physician scientist Jason Hipp, MD, PhD, Chair of Computational Pathology and AI at Mayo Clinic.
“We want to be a hub within Mayo Clinic for digital pathology,” Hipp told Executive War College attendees during his keynote address.
Hipp views his team as the bridge between pathologists and the data science engineers who develop AI algorithms. Both sides must collaborate to move AI forward, he commented, yet most clinical laboratories and pathology groups have not yet developed those relationships.
“We want to embed both sides,” Hipp added. “We need the data scientists working with the pathologists side by side. That practical part is missing today.”
The future medical laboratory at Mayo Clinic will feature an intersection of pathology, computer technology, and patient data. Cloud storage is a big part of that vision.
“AI requires storage and lots of data to be practical,” Hipp said.
Investigators may look into various angles, including drive-through testing sites for COVID-19 and whether uninsured patients were verified before free tests
Three healthcare compliance attorneys gave a clear and concise message to clinical laboratory managers and pathologists at the 2022 Executive War College Conference on Laboratory and Pathology and Management: Expect the government to scrutinize reimbursements it paid for COVID-19 testing, particularly for testing conducted at drive-through sites that popped up all over the country.
“The important question is: What is the fair market value of those specimens?” noted attorney Emily Johnson, JD, a Member at law firm McDonald Hopkins in Chicago. Johnson spoke during a legal panel on Wednesday at the Executive War College in New Orleans.
The panel spent 75 minutes discussing various legal concerns, many of them related to COVID-19 testing, before a crowd of about 80 attendees.
Attorney Emily Johnson, JD, of Chicago law firm McDonald Hopkins explained possible COVID-19 test fraud enforcement to attendees at the 2022 Executive War College. (Photo copyright: The Dark Intelligence Group.)
Audits May Be Coming of HRSA Reimbursements for COVID-19 Testing
Consumer Reports noted in a January article that COVID-19 testing prices varied wildly both in traditional healthcare settings and popup sites—in some cases, exceeding $1,400.
The average price for such a test within an insurance company’s network was $130.
Some people paid for those tests out of pocket or got them covered by insurance. For uninsured patients, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) established a pool of money to reimburse labs for free COVID-19 tests. That pool recently dried up and Congress has not approved more funding.
The U.S. Department of Justice may investigate the uninsured aspect of claims—specifically, whether there were attempts by laboratory staff members to verify whether a patient truly was not covered by health insurance, explained Karen Lovitch, JD, Chair of the Health Law and Healthcare Enforcement Defense Practice at law firm Mintz in Washington.
These issues bring up False Claims Act risks, especially if a clinical laboratory audits its own COVID-19 test claims. “If labs go back retroactively and determine a claim was paid that shouldn’t have been paid, those labs must absolutely be prepared to return that money,” Lovitch warned.
Clinical Laboratories Need a Business Plan for Post-COVID-19 Testing
Related to HRSA payments ending for COVID-19 testing of uninsured payments, clinical laboratories should be wary about outright ending such testing without a documented business plan demonstrating the rationale for doing so, Johnson noted. That advice is relevant for labs and pathology groups that received financial assistance from HRSA’s Provider Relief Fund during the pandemic.
Some have interpreted information about the fund to mean providers are obligated to treat uninsured patients, Johnson added.
“If I stop accepting uninsured patients for COVID testing, am I in violation of the Provider Relief Fund?” she asked. A clearly documented reason for doing so, such as a need to keep the business afloat through paid testing, would be a first step for concerned medical laboratories to take, she added.
Another point for labs to ponder: In March, the federal government named Kevin Chambers, JD—who is currently Associate Deputy Attorney General at the DOJ—as the first Director of COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement.
That appointment emphasizes the government’s commitment to undercovering SARS-CoV-2 wrongdoing, said attorney David Gee, JD, a Partner at law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle. Gee rounded out the panel at the Executive War College.
“I guarantee Chambers’ bosses want him to demonstrate the government is serious about COVID-19 fraud,” Gee commented.
EKRA Becomes New Tool against COVID-19 Fraud
Finally, as Dark Daily previously reported, the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 (EKRA) is sometimes being used to prosecute cases of alleged COVID-19 testing fraud.
EKRA has generally been associated with rules against paying clinical laboratory sales reps a commission based on testing volumes they generate. However, Johnson predicted more EKRA cases will be filed related to alleged kickbacks paid in return for referrals for COVID-19 testing.
“Prosecutors seem willing to go after these cases aggressively,” she added.
And in The Dark Report’s upcoming Regulatory Update, “Dept. of Justice: EKRA Governs Lab Sales and Marketing Commissions,” Dark Daily’s sister publication covers how a recent ruling by a federal judge may weaken EKRA and “immunize conduct that drives up medical costs.”
Subscribers to The Dark Report will want to stay informed on critical changes taking place that affect how EKRA operates.
27th annual meeting of medical laboratory and pathology managers delivers insights on the path ahead for diagnostics, ranging from the supply chain shortage and the ‘Great Resignation’ to advances in artificial intelligence and whole genome sequencing in service of precision medicine
What’s coming as healthcare providers move to post-COVID-19 pandemic workflows will be of keen interest to clinical laboratory leaders attending this critical event. Several new and dynamic market changes are reshaping the development of, ordering, and reimbursement for medical laboratory tests. They include:
Millennials as change agents in how care is accessed and delivered.
New buyers of large volumes of clinical lab tests, such as retail pharmacies.
How clinical laboratories can earn new sources of revenue while supporting precision medicine.
Clinical Labs Should Prepare for the ‘Coming Roller Coaster Ride’
Robert L. Michel, Editor-in-Chief of Dark Daily’s sister publication, The Dark Report, and Founder of the Executive War College, described the “coming roller coaster ride” for the pathology and clinical laboratory industries.
Amid the usual operational issues labs deal with (e.g., workforce shortages, supply chain disruptions, regulatory pressures), he noted the emergence of new and powerful forces pulling clinical laboratories and pathology groups in all directions.
“One primary factor is how Millennials will use healthcare differently than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers,” Michel noted. “Similarly, Millennials will make up 75% of the pathologists and the lab workforce by 2025.
“Another major force for change will be new buyers of clinical laboratory tests,” he continued. “For example, expect to see national retail pharmacy chains build thousands of primary care clinics in their retail pharmacies. These clinics will need lab tests and will become major buyers of near-patient analyzers and lab tests.
“A third interesting factor is that a new class of in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers are developing analyzers and test systems that use minimal amounts of specimens and return answers in minutes. Primary care clinics in retail pharmacies will be interested in buying these lab testing solutions,” Michel concluded.
Robert L. Michel (above), Editor-in-Chief of The Dark Report and Founder of the Executive War College, has studied and worked with leaders of clinical laboratories and pathology groups for more than four decades. During his keynote address, he predicted that powerful economic forces are about to be unleashed on the traditional market for clinical laboratory testing. Those forces include the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in digital pathology, primary care in retail pharmacies, and increased focus on precision medicine. (Photo copyright: The Dark Intelligence Group.)
Peer-to-Peer Learning Opportunities
With approximately 90 presenters scheduled, clinical laboratory leaders from such prestigious institutions as Johns Hopkins Hospital, Mayo Clinic, United Indian Health Services, and more will facilitate peer-to-peer learnings throughout the conference.
In addition, several sessions and panel Q/A discussions will cover critical legal and regulatory issues and payer challenges facing the industry.
New Technologies, Workflows, Analytics
The 2022 Executive War College master classes, breakouts, panel discussions, and benefactor sessions will highlight several significant themes:
Lab data analytics and utilization. Sessions this year are heavily weighted toward data analytics, aggregation, and utilization. Look for case studies demonstrating the value of lab data, and where and how data has become actionable and monetized. As Dark Daily previously reported, useful data structures have been difficult to achieve for clinical laboratories; however, the case studies featured during this week’s conference will demonstrate signs of progress and highlight lessons learned.
Automation. Several case studies are planned that focus on expansion and modernization using laboratory automation. From Butler Health System, an independent hospital system in western Pa., Robert Patterson, MD, Medical Director of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, and Laboratory Outreach, will detail steps Butler took that enabled its labs to better compete with other area health systems and national reference laboratories. Likewise, Eric Parnell, System Supervisor of Microbiology for Bronson Healthcare in southern Mich., will discuss his lab’s transition to and implementation of total laboratory automation.
Genetic testing and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Quickly becoming the foundational disruptor technology on which many new and powerful clinical laboratory tests and procedures are based, genomic testing has now become accessible and affordable. Many clinical laboratories and pathology groups are using molecular diagnostics testing to deliver clinical value to referring physicians.
Other sessions include:
Launching and scaling clinical NGS testing in a clinical environment (featuring a project at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego).
How labs and payers can work together to achieve better outcomes and health equity using genomic testing.
Effective ways to repurpose PCR and other genetic test instruments to build specimen volume and increase lab revenue.
Paths Forward for Clinical Labs and Pathology Groups
Another important topic being discussed at the 2022 Executive War College is how to position clinical laboratories and pathology groups for the next phase of modern healthcare.
Attracting capital for clinical labs and pathology groups.
Emerging concepts in growth strategies.
Business valuation factors.
Unexpected disruptions during sales closings.
These are just a few highlights of the informative sessions and expert speakers scheduled during this week’s 27th annual Executive War College in New Orleans. Look for more coverage in Dark Daily during the days ahead and in upcoming editions of our sister publication The Dark Report.
Full details about the 2022 Executive War College can be found by clicking on this link. (Or copy/paste this URL into your web browser: http://www.executivewarcollege.com.)
Speakers, session topics, and the conference agenda can be viewed by clicking on this link. (Or copy/paste this URL into your web browser: https://executivewarcollege.darkintelligencegroup.com/executive-war-college-agenda-2022.)
Proof of vaccination, masking, and availability of on-site testing will continue to be measures taken at in-person events for pathologists and medical laboratory professionals
Organizers of in-person clinical laboratory conferences face an interesting dilemma as they plan events in 2022: Where do they draw the line with COVID-19 safety protocols?
On one hand, the surge of cases caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant seems to be in its waning stages and large swaths of the population are vaccinated. On the other hand, clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology events want potential registrants to have confidence that it is safe to travel and attend the gatherings.
One lab industry conference producer who happens to be knee-deep in preparing for an in-person meeting this spring is Robert Michel, Editor-in-Chief of The Dark Report and Founder of the 27th Annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management. This informative event takes place on April 27-28 in New Orleans and includes COVID-19 protocols to protect attendees.
The CDC chart above shows the daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the US for the six-month period ending Feb. 28, 2022. Clinical laboratory managers should note that the number of new cases is at its lowest level since the Omicron variant showed up early this year.
“It’s important for all those planning to attend this year’s Executive War College to know that screening COVID-19 protocols will be in place to ensure the health and safety of all participants,” Michel noted. “We did a large lab conference in the fall of 2021 that included protocols for COVID-19 and the attendees told us they appreciated the protection provided by those protocols.”
After a significant rise in COVID-19 cases in January 2022 due to the Omicron variant, current daily case levels now are lower than they were six months ago before the new variant hit, according to numbers from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The in-person 2021 Executive War College, which took place in San Antonio on Nov. 2-3, 2021, followed the CDC’s recommendations:
COVID-19 protocols included a daily set of questions and a temperature check for all speakers and attendees before they were allowed to enter the conference area.
CLIA-complex rapid PCR COVID-19 tests were available for individuals whose temperature and answers to the screening questions indicated the need for such testing.
Attendees used an app to answer the daily screening questions and upload proof of vaccination.
“At last fall’s Executive War College, approximately 400 attendees were screened on each of the three days before entering the conference area and not one rapid COVID-19 test was needed,” Michel said. “Not only is that an outstanding outcome, but a number of attendees also told us they appreciated our efforts to keep them safe and protect their health.”
The 2022 Executive War College will follow the CDC’s updated COVID-19 guidelines, along with any state and local directives in effect as of April 27.
Although 300 attendees were expected at the 2021 Executive War College, 400 registered and participated.
Proof of Vaccination Has Been Required at Other Clinical Lab Industry Events
Organizers of other clinical lab conferences also have dealt with COVID-19 safety protocols. For example, the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) will hold its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on March 9. COVID-19-related requirements for attendees will include proof of vaccination uploaded to a vaccine verification vendor and proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to the event.
The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) occurs later this year in September in Chicago—too early yet to publish protocols. Last year’s ASCP conference in Boston was a hybrid event, offering both in-person and virtual options. Those who attended in person needed to upload proof of vaccination to a third-party vendor and were required to wear masks. On-site COVID-19 testing was available.
Revived Corporate Travel Could Boost Clinical Laboratory Conferences
The path back to live events across all industries has not been easy given various COVID-19 surges, political divisiveness over masking, frozen corporate travel budgets, and corporate policies banning or limiting employee travel.
Conference organizers throughout the United States universally hope those barriers will lower as 2022 progresses.
“With the fast-spreading Omicron triggering another round of setbacks to start 2022, event planners now are betting on spring to finally mark a turning point for the hard-hit industry,” MarketWatch reported on Feb. 4. “Their hopes hinge on American corporations taking a note from the recovery already under way for domestic air travel for leisure purposes, with the linchpin being a robust revival of trade show attendance and other in-person business gatherings.”
For Michel, offering actionable advice through well-thought-out sessions has been a cornerstone of the content offered each year at the Executive War College. He believes that approach will continue to be the strongest drawing point for clinical laboratory and pathology executives now considering attending the event.
“Our reading of the tea leaves is that across the profession of laboratory medicine, a great many managers, administrators, executives, and pathologists want to return to in-person conferences,” Michel noted. “Registrations for our April event are running ahead of 2019, and people tell us that they recognize the changes in healthcare and the lab marketplace because of the pandemic. They want to understand what’s driving current trends, like greater consumer involvement in lab testing and how to get private payers to reimburse claims for COVID-19 and genetic tests, as well as how a growing number of clinical laboratories are incorporating artificial intelligence solutions in both clinical care settings and lab operations.”
