Feb 26, 2016 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
This healthcare big data project’s tools and predictive models involve real-time monitoring of patient data and are expected to be available soon to other to providers
One healthcare big data project has begun to report progress on using predictive analytics to improve patient care in the diagnosis and management of such health conditions as sepsis and heart failure. This pioneering effort is being done at the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s (Penn Medicine’s), Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI).
What will be of high interest for pathologists and clinical laboratory executives is how this big data project incorporates lab test results into the effort.
Recently, Penn Medicine announced Penn Signals, a big-data project that, in part, relies on the lab data housed in the academic medical center’s laboratory information system (LIS) as well as its outpatient and inpatient data house in its electronic health record (EHR) system. (more…)
Feb 24, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
As reimbursement models shift, physician practice management companies (PPMCs) offer increased value and appeal for hospital-based physicians (HBPs)
Are physician practice management companies (PPMCs)—a hot trend during the 1990s—poised to make a comeback in this decade? Whether this healthcare business model can gain traction during the 2010s remains to be seen, but, of all physician specialties, pathologists are likely to be among the most skeptical, just as they were during the 1994-2000 heyday of PPMCs.
In the mid-1990s, such physician practice management companies as MedPartners, Phycor, and others raised billions of dollar to invest in both independent physician practices and hospital-based physician (HBP) groups. But not even 10 years later, competition for viable practices drove prices above sustainable levels and many PPMCs closed shop. (more…)
Feb 22, 2016 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Provider-health plan integration in Wisconsin may serve as model for hospitals and health systems nationwide as they establish their own health insurance plans
One interesting new trend in healthcare is the growth in the number of provider-owned health insurance plans. This is a development that could be auspicious for local clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups because most provider-owned health plans want local labs in their provider networks. This includes contracting with their own hospital labs.
In fact, experts at the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions believe that provider-sponsored health plans are “a potentially disruptive industry innovator.” If this assessment plays out, provider-owned health insurance plans may make big inroads on the market share currently held by insurance industry giants such as UnitedHealthcare, Anthem, Aetna and others. (more…)
Feb 19, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Panel of webinar speakers included several physicians, a pathologist, and a director from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Patient safety continues to be a major factor in the ongoing transformation of healthcare in the United States. As it does, more scrutiny is being given to how medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups can contribute to improving patient safety.
One example of the heightened scrutiny of patient safety as it relates to clinical laboratory testing services was a recent webinar at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the online healthcare site, Stat. Titled “Medical Tests: Inaccuracies, Risks and the Public’s Health,” this webinar featured nationally-known healthcare experts and policy makers.
Issues of patient safety associated with medical laboratories was a major topic during this webinar, including discussion about concerns associated with the clinical use of laboratory-developed tests. (more…)
Feb 17, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Such a small, non-invasive glucose monitor would capture and transmit data to the Cloud, making it feasible for clinical laboratories to collect those tests results, and keep a record of each patient’s glucose results
Probably no single area of medical laboratory testing has the greatest potential to help the largest number of patients with a chronic disease—and make a lot of money for the in vitro (IVD) manufacturer who is first to market with the right diagnostic product—than glucose testing and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers know why this is true.
Reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Diabetes Association, state that more than 29 million Americans (about 9% of the U.S. population) have diabetes. Nearly 28% of these (about eight million) are undiagnosed. The reports also stipulate that fasting glucose or A1C levels have shown that more than 80 million people over the age of 20 were prediabetic in 2012. Based on trends since then, we can safely assume that the number of prediabetics in America has grown. And what is true in the United States is general true in most developed nations throughout the world. (more…)
