Oct 12, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
More medical tourists may also contribute to further globalization of lab testing
Medical tourism continues to be a force with the potential to exert significant influence on healthcare in the United States. For that reason, experts have weighed in recently on how efforts to reform healthcare may either inhibit or encourage growth in the number of Americans opting to become medical tourists.
Just as medical tourism has the potential to be transformative to certain aspects of healthcare here in this country, Dark Daily believes that medical tourism may also encourage greater globalization of pathology services and clinical laboratory testing. For both reasons, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will find recent commentary to be enlightening. (more…)
Sep 21, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Hospitals Opening Retail Clinics to Capture Greater Market Share
Walk-in rapid medical clinics in retail stores are so popular with consumers that now hospitals want in on the action. Some of the nation’s most famous hospitals have inked agreements to put their brand on rapid clinics located inside many of the country’s largest retail and pharmacy chains.
Hospital-branded rapid clinics are inside 25 Wal-Mart stores nationally, according to a New York Times article. Additionally, Cleveland Clinic lent its brand to CVS drugstore clinics in northern Ohio, Mayo Clinic is operating Express Care clinics inside a supermarket and shopping mall in Rochester, Minnesota, and there are others. In fact, one in 10 retail clinics are now connected to a hospital, and more are planned, according to Merchant Medicine News, an online newsletter for the clinic industry.
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Jul 13, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Ex-Senate Majority Leader Predicts Democrats Will Aggressively Push Reform
In recent weeks, laboratory professionals got a ringside seat to hear a true Washington insider discuss key issues in healthcare reform. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, told lab industry executives and pathologists that Congress faces three significant hurdles as it attempts to reform the healthcare system. The first—and perhaps most significant—hurdle involves costs, he said. Daschle is currently a Senior Policy Advisor at Alston and Bird, a law firm in Washington, D.C.
“Cost is a huge political factor,” stated Daschle during a recent audio conference conducted by the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) on June 24. “Of all of the factors, cost is driving this debate as much if not more than any [other single factor]. We are looking at an investment cost of about $1 trillion to put this new infrastructure in place and that is an issue of great concern.” Daschle explained that the other two hurdles are quality of care and access to healthcare.
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