Dec 5, 2016 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations
Last week involved a full slate of pathology meetings and medical laboratory site visits on both islands of New Zealand during Dark Daily’s visit to this Pacific nation
DATELINE: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND—There’s a good case to be made that the health system in this South Pacific nation is farther down the path of medical laboratory regionalization and consolidation than most other developed nations.
That’s one insight to be gleaned from a week’s worth of meetings with pathologists, clinical laboratory professionals, and health system administrators in the cities of Auckland on the North Island and Christchurch on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Your Dark Daily Editor, Robert Michel, had the opportunity to speak at several conferences and workshops, along with visits to medical laboratories.
A note of explanation about nomenclature will be helpful to Dark Daily’s international readers. In Australia and New Zealand, “pathology laboratory” is the common term for the medical laboratories that typically test blood, urine, saliva, and similar specimens. (In the United States and Canada, “clinical laboratory” is used interchangeably with medical laboratory.) “Histopathology” (or anatomic pathology) is the common term for labs that handle tissue specimens in New Zealand and Australia. (In North America, anatomic pathology, or surgical pathology laboratory is used more frequently than histopathology.) (more…)
Jul 16, 2012 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
It’s been a challenging year for this New Zealand city’s medical laboratory testing professionals
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND—Two private clinical laboratory companies in this city have had quite a roller coaster ride during the past 18 months. Included in the ups and downs were a series of destructive earthquakes, a new contract bidding cycle that eliminated one of the two existing private medical laboratory companies, and a lab acquisition.
For pathologists and clinical lab administrators in other countries, there are useful lessons to be learned in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes. Among other things, one clinical laboratory company needed to move its testing facility six different times in a year! That’s because aftershocks and ongoing engineering inspections revealed significant damage to these different buildings at different points in time.
Two Major Earthquakes within Six Months in Christchurch
It was September 4, 2010, when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked the city, causing considerable damage but no fatalities. Just six months later, on February 22, 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Christchurch. This second earthquake caused substantial damage and loss of life. For this event, experts noted that the “intensity and violence of the ground shaking was measured to be… among the strongest ever recorded globally in an urban area.” (more…)
Jul 26, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Less funding for clinical pathology laboratory testing is just one of several market developments
Australia’s competitive market for clinical pathology laboratory testing seems poised for some major changes. Unfolding events are upsetting the pathology testing status quo in at least three ways. Caught in the middle of these disruptive forces are Australia’s big three of pathology testing: Healthscope Limited (ASX:HSP), Primary Health Care Limited (ASX:PRY), and Sonic Healthcare, Ltd. (ASX:SHL ).
The first change is linked to the federal government’s decision in recent years to scrap a decades-long pathology testing reimbursement arrangement. In 2009, it allowed the most recent price contract with the pathology testing industry to expire without renewal. Then, in November 2009, the government instituted a reduction in pathology testing fees.
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Jun 14, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Healthscope bids also fuel speculation of a big clinical pathology transaction
Last week in Australia, investment insiders shared rumors that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) was interested in acquiring Sonic Healthcare Ltd. (ASX: SHL). However, press stories discounted the possibility of a deal between these two billion-dollar clinical pathology laboratory behemoths. Neither company has issued a public statement addressing this issue.
In assessing the possibility of Quest Diagnostics acquiring Sonic Healthcare, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) threw cold water on the idea. It pointed out that Sonic’s stock price is trading at a multiple of 10.8 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). That would make Sonic an expensive purchase for Quest Diagnostics, since Quest’s share price trades at a multiple of seven times EBITDA. Further, SMH’s reporter pointed out that Sonic’s market capitalization of A$5.7 billion would make it a major acquisition for Quest Diagnostics, which has a market capitalization of U.S.$9.5 billion.
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