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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Diagnostic Errors Get the Attention of the Institute of Medicine, Reinforcing Efforts by Nation’s Clinical Pathology Laboratory Scientists to Improve Patient Safety

Along with its assessment of the rate of errors in diagnosis, the IOM has a plan to improve, but will doctors accept the IOM’s advice, or continue business as usual?

Diagnostic errors in the American healthcare system is a problem that is now on the radar screen of policymakers at the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals will welcome this development, because recommendations from the IOM carry weight with Congress.

Thus, should the IOM develop specific actions items intended to reduce medical errors, not only are these suggestions likely to involve more effective use of medical laboratory tests by physicians, but there is a strong probability that Congress might eventually write these recommendations into future healthcare legislation.

The Institute of Medicine is a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The IOM recently convened a committee that released a list of recommendations to address the problem of diagnostic errors in medicine. Those recommendations, however, are running up against ingrained mindsets and overconfidence on the part of physicians who are reluctant to include decision-support technology in the diagnostic process. (more…)

Pathologist/Researcher Offers Two Suggestions to Reduce Inappropriate Testing and Improve Patient Safety

Whether either or both of these suggestions can be put into practice is the challenge most clinical laboratories face

For Pathologist Ramy A. Arnaout, MD, DPhil, one of the biggest issues all pathologists face today is how to overcome the breakdown in cooperation between pathologists and referring physicians that can cause patient harm.

An Associate Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Arnaout was a panel member during a webinar in December sponsored by STAT News and T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. During the webinar, “Medical Tests: Inaccuracies, Risks and the Public’s Health,” Arnaout explained that when errors occur in a lab, they usually happen during test selection and result interpretation, sometimes called the “pre-pre-analytical” and “post-post-analytical” phases. In these two phases of the lab-testing process, pathologists and ordering physicians need to collaborate more closely to help avoid errors and reduce the level of patient harm, he explained. (more…)

Attention All Clinical Laboratory, Pathology, and IVD Sales Professionals! Nominations for First-ever National Lab Sales Excellence Awards Are Open

Medical laboratory sales reps selected as winners will each receive a $3,000 prize and an expense-paid trip to the Executive War College for the awards ceremony

Never before has the profession of laboratory medicine had a national achievement award for sales professionals who are a primary source of service between their clinical laboratory organizations and the physicians who order medical laboratory tests.

That is all about to change on April 28, 2016, when the winners of the first-ever National Lab Sales Excellence Awards will be announced. This new recognition program is being sponsored by The Dark Report, sister publication of Dark Daily. The winners of these awards will be announced at the 21st annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management before an audience of as many as 900 lab managers, administrators, and pathologists. (more…)

Why Clinical Labs and Anatomic Pathology Are at Risk Because of No Formal Succession Plan to Develop Their Next Generation of Management Leaders

To help labs catch up on their succession planning needs, the Executive War College on April 26-27, 2016, will have a special learning track for mentors and their mentorees

When it comes to training and molding the next generation of lab managers and leaders, most clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups face two big challenges in succession planning.

First, shrinking budgets mean there is less money to devote to training managers. Second, staffing cutbacks have thinned the management ranks in these labs, leaving the remaining middle managers and senior administrators so overwhelmed by daily responsibilities that they have precious little time left over to mentor the most promising management and leadership talent in their lab organizations. (more…)

Genetic Tests and Precision Medicine Start to Win Acceptance by Some Payers; Pathologists and Clinical Laboratories Have Opportunity as Advisors

UnitedHealthcare to cover Foundation Medicine’s comprehensive genomic profiling assay for solid tumors, but Medicare still reluctant to reimburse for genetic tests

Studies showing success of targeted therapies in cancer care may be having an influence on the decisions by certain health insurers to reimburse clinical laboratories to reimburse for certain genetic tests.

One example that press reports cite is how last December UnitedHealthcare began reimbursing for a certain genetic test for patients with a particular lung cancer, according to a statement from Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ:FMI). Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Foundation Medicine describes itself as “a molecular information company dedicated to a transformation in cancer care in which treatment is informed by a deep understanding of the genomic changes that contribute to each patient’s unique cancer.” (more…)

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