News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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Studies Show How Clinical Whole-Exome Sequencing May Forever Change the Future Practice of Medicine while Giving Pathologists a New Opportunity to Deliver Value

Similar study of exome sequencing at UCLA produces findings that mirror the diagnostic outcomes produced by researchers at the three Houston organizations

In recent years, pathologists and other clinical laboratory professionals have seen increasing evidence of the benefits of using exome sequencing for clinical diagnostic purposes.

Confirming their initial published findings of a 25% molecular diagnostic rate, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Baylor Human Genome Center, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have released results of a large sampling of 2,000 consecutive patients.

In this expanded study, published in the November 12, 2014, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 504 patients (25.2%) received a molecular diagnosis and 92 patients (4.6%) benefitted from medical intervention to ameliorate or eliminate negative symptoms. (more…)

Development of Frozen Section Technology is Subject of Newspaper Story Highlighting the Value Pathology Brings to Medicine

Newspaper in Rochester, Minnesota, tells the story of how the 19th century use of frozen sections by pathologists at Mayo Clinic played key role in developing intra-operative diagnostics

It’s a good thing for pathologists each time a local newspaper runs a story that highlights the contribution of pathology to the practice of medicine. Since pathologists typically don’t see patients, media stories about the pathologist’s role in diagnosing disease are effective ways to educate consumers.

This was the case when Rochester, Minnesota-based PostBulletin.com recently ran a story about—who else—but the pathology laboratory at the Mayo Clinic. The story highlighted the early development of the frozen section technique (FST) at Mayo Clinic. This newspaper story created community exposure about the role of pathology and pathologists in delivering quality healthcare. (more…)

Promising Diabetes Prevention Programs Are Fueling Shift toward Wellness-focused Care and May Encourage More Utilization of Clinical Laboratory Tests

Predictions are that more disease-prevention programs will be developed, creating the opportunity for laboratories to be more proactive in helping clinicians keep patients well

Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers take note! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is accumulating a growing body of evidence that its community-based diabetes prevention program is effective at improving the health of participating patients.

These auspicious findings may encourage a steep increase in the number and type of disease-prevention programs. In turn, greater deployment of such programs could further accelerate healthcare’s shift away from a reactive treatment of disease model to a proactive disease prevention model of care.

Such developments would be favorable for medical laboratories and pathology groups. As physicians pay more attention to diagnosing disease at earlier stages, they will want to tap the expertise of pathologists, Ph.D.s, and laboratory scientists. (more…)

Noted Pathologist George Lundberg, M.D., Sees Opportunity for Pathology Profession to be Leaders in Diagnostics during the Era of Genomics

Noted pathologist encourages pathology profession to step up and assert leadership in clinical diagnostics as it enters the era of genomics-based medicine

Pathologists, embrace molecular testing or become irrelevant. In essence, that’s the message from pathology maven George D. Lundberg, M.D..

Lundberg is well known to pathologists in America. A board-certified pathologist himself, Lundberg served 17 years as Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). He continues to write and blog for a variety of healthcare publications and Web sites.

That means Lundberg has watched the evolution of medicine from a unique perspective for an extended period of time. The fact that he recently issued a clear and unambiguous call to action for the pathology profession means that pathologists  and clinical laboratory managers should take heed. (more…)

Scripps Physicians Call for Shift in how Clinical Pathology Laboratories Process Cancer Tissue Samples

Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers should fundamentally change how cancer specimens are handled

Three physicians at Scripps Health are calling for pathologists to rethink how they collect and store cancer tissue samples in two significant ways. They say that pathologists need to: 1) move away from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks and toward frozen samples; and, 2) start collecting larger samples.

These doctors used the Journal of the American Medical Association as a platform to issue their call for a change in what has been a long-standing standard of practice in anatomic pathology. Given the progressive nature of these opinions, there will certainly be dissenting voices within the pathology profession who are likely to add their voices to this debate.

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