May 8, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Last week in New Orleans, the 14th Annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management took place, with more than 450 senior laboratory administrators and pathologists in attendance from 11 nations across the globe. It was an upbeat gathering, despite the economic downturn being felt by hospitals, health systems, and laboratories in many countries.
Some of that optimism stems from the fact that many laboratories continue to do well-clinically and financially. That was the case with three strategic management case studies presented at the Executive War College:
(more…)
May 6, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Baystate harvests annual savings of 20%+ from simple strategies and steps
In today’s depressed economy, hospital laboratories are scrambling to control costs, reduce unnecessary spending, and get more for every dollar they spend. That is why the constantly-rising cost of reference tests and send-out referrals are now a prime target for laboratory budget-cutters across the United States.
Every laboratory’s reference/send-out test program is a potential budget-buster, for three reasons familiar to every lab director.
(more…)
May 5, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Noted Author lauds the quiet professionals working in the world’s laboratories
Seldom do laboratory professionals get the recognition they deserve each day for their role in protecting the public health from spread of disease. Now, with the specter of an influenza pandemic hanging over the world, CNN Contributor Bob Greene suggests it is time to pay homage to what he describes as our unsung “heroes in lab coats.”
Writing yesterday in a commentary on the CNN Web site, Greene observed “Right now, as the eventual path of the swine flu emergency remains uncertain, the world is beginning to turn its pleading eyes in the direction of men and women whose names and faces we don’t even know. The wider world seldom gives them a thought until suddenly we realize that we need them.”
(more…)
Apr 30, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Tidal wave of Swine Flu Specimens Puts Stress Public Health Laboratories
In the United States, the number of confirmed and suspected cases of A/H1N1 influenza continues to increase day by day, although the overall number is limited. As of today, Thursday, the CDC reports 109 confirmed A/H1N1 cases in 11 states, and one confirmed fatality in the state of Texas.
Clinical laboratories across the United States are swamped with phone calls from physicians’ offices and requests for collection supplies. In recent days, a tsunami of influenza specimens has begun to tax the ability of medical laboratories to perform this testing and provide results within normal turnaround times.
(more…)
Apr 29, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Officials in Mexico were criticized as being slow to respond to the spread of A/H1N1 swine flu on Tuesday, April 28. Mexico was reported to have failed to deliver medicine to the families of the dead, two weeks after the first confirmed death from the flu, the Associated Press reported. Also, the government had not determined where the outbreak began or how it spread, the AP said. In Mexico, 159 people may have died of swine flu, but only seven of these deaths have been verified as A/H1N1 by laboratory tests, the New York Times reported today (April 29).
(more…)
