May 26, 2017 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
New low-cost alternatives to emergency department and hospital visits could require flexibility from pathology groups and clinical laboratories to provide the best quality care
In response to the rising cost of conventional hospital services, innovative healthcare models such as micro-hospitals, bedless hospitals, and mobile and freestanding emergency rooms (ERs), are attempting to lower costs while maintaining quality of care by providing alternatives to traditional ER visits and hospital stays.
This means new challenges and opportunities for pathology groups and medical laboratories that can adapt to the different needs of these new healthcare delivery models. Each different care model will want clinical lab testing services and the reporting of lab test results to be handled in ways that enable these providers to achieve improved patient outcomes. (more…)
Dec 5, 2011 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
New report determines in-home patient care can save an average of 22% over inpatient care for six different health conditions
Momentum continues to build in favor of the “Hospital in the Home”, known by the acronym HITH. For certain health conditions, this care model allows the patient to remain in his or her home, instead of staying in a hospital. Caregivers, including specialist physicians, come to the residence with almost the same frequency as occurs for hospital inpatients.
Wider adoption of this model of patient care would directly affect pathologists and clinical laboratory managers who work in hospital laboratories. Over time, it could mean fewer inpatient admissions and thus, less medical laboratory test volumes for inpatient services. On the other hand, more HITH patients would increase the need to collect specimens in patient’s homes and get them to a local clinical laboratory for testing. Hospital-based medical laboratories—because they are central to the communities they serve—would be well-positioned to provide this diagnostic testing.
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