Mar 4, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
With a new president and a new Congress declaring that the time has come to reform the American healthcare system, at least one recent study indicates a shift in public opinion toward support for an overhaul of the health care system and a growing consensus for universal health care.
Eight in 10 Americans favor fundamental changes to improve quality or a complete rebuild of outdated delivery systems. Among those surveyed, there is broad agreement, regardless of socioeconomics, insurance status and political differences, that health care reform should be a national priority. Respondents want reform to address quality, access and costs, according to this report released last summer, Public Views on U.S. Health System Organization: A Call for New Directions, sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund.
If there was a big surprise, it was the finding that a significant number of people are unhappy with their own health care. A majority of insured (70%) and uninsured (80%) respondents in the survey complained about these issues:
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Mar 2, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Acquisition will particularly strengthen Beckman’s presence in clinical chemistry market
Monday, March 2, 2009
Last Friday, Beckman Coulter Inc. (NYSE:BEC) announced that it will pay $800 million acquire the diagnostics business of Olympus Corporation. This is a major transaction that further consolidates the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry, particularly given the respective market shares in clinical chemistry currently held by both Beckman and Olympus. (more…)
Feb 27, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Effective January 1, 2009, Physicians can get extra 2% for paperless prescribing
February 27, 2009
Medicare’s newest cash incentive program for physicians who use e-prescribing services has caught the attention of the medical community. In the months leading up to the January 1, 2009 implementation date for the physician e-prescribing bonus, the number of doctors using paperless prescribing services doubled.
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Feb 25, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
February 25, 2009
Providers might blame soaring healthcare costs in part on caring for uninsured patients, but a new study published by the journal Health Affairs suggests this argument may not hold much water. (more…)
Feb 24, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
February 24, 2009
Are you curious about how molecular imaging and molecular diagnostics are being integrated into a single clinical service? If so, you may want to go to the Siemens Corporation Web site. On the home page, it prominently features video of events at the Molecular Summit on the Integration of In Vivo and In Vitro Diagnostics, conducted in Philadelphia earlier this month!
Throughout the two-day Molecular Summit event, Siemens conducted video interviews with selected speakers. These interviews, and video of selected presentations, are easily accessible on the Siemens Web site. In fact, you can even see a video interview with Dark Daily Editor Robert Michel, who produces the Molecular Summit each year! Just hit the link with his picture .
Siemens’ interest in the Molecular Summit is directly linked to one of its primary global strategies. In recent years, Siemens placed a $14 billion bet on the integration of molecular imaging and molecular diagnostics by acquiring, in order, Diagnostic Products Corporation (DPC), Bayer Diagnostics, and Dade Behring Corporation. By 2007, Siemens had become the world’s second largest in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturer, as well as the world’s largest integrated diagnostics company.
Pathologists and laboratory managers will want to pay closer attention to how radiology and pathology are evolving toward a single clinical service. This is a trend which is in its infancy. It won’t be disruptive in the short term. On the other hand, presentations at Molecular Summit by radiologists and pathologists who have begun to collaborate on an integrated clinical diagnostic service reveal that such efforts easily generate additional value to clinicians and improve outcomes for patients. Two examples of in vivo and in vitro integration can by found at the University of Kansas and at UCLA Medical Center. Pathologists and radiologists from both sites made presentations on their collaborative diagnostic services at the Molecular Summit.
Of course, the glue that will increasingly bind radiologists and pathologists together is personalized medicine. Molecular Summit speakers ranging from George Poste, DVM, PhD, to Mara Aspinall, PhD, told attendees that personalized medicine is no longer a concept, but is an active and expanding influence in healthcare today. Personalized medicine requires pathologists and radiologists to adopt molecular technologies and to evaluate disease processes at a cellular level, increasingly in a multiplex, multi-modality process.
The second annual Molecular Summit, produced by The Dark Report, was conducted in Philadelphia on February 10-11, 2009. An enthusiastic audience of almost 200 pathologists, radiologists, and other experts focused on this new vision for molecular imaging and molecular diagnostics. For two years, Siemens has been a corporate benefactor of Molecular Summit.
Dark Daily invites subscribers and readers to share their experiences at integrating imaging and molecular pathology. Planning for Molecular Summit 2010 is already under way and this is an opportunity for you to present your case study of in vivo/in vitro integration at next year’s event. Contact Editor Robert L. Michel at rmichel@darkreport.com.
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