May 22, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
One device that uses computer algorithms to analyze bodily sounds has undergone clinical trials and is awaiting clearance by the FDA
Is technology poised to render the iconic stethoscope passé? For centuries, doctors have used stethoscopes for listening to functions in different parts of the body. However, new devices now exist that employ electronic biosensors to “listen” in on those same sounds and analyze them with computer algorithms. The devices then deliver assessments to attending physicians.
The concept remains the same. Place a device against the body, listen for sounds, and use those sounds to identify a patient’s symptoms. Since the goal is to monitor sounds, it is not likely that “digital stethoscopes” will impinge on the clinical laboratory testing services provided by pathologists and medical laboratory scientists. (more…)
Mar 20, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
In California, a survey found significant inaccuracies in provider directories posted online—may trigger action by regulators to have insurers address this problem
Transparency in healthcare is an important trend. In recent years, much attention has been given to increasing the transparency of the prices charged to patients by hospitals, physicians, and medical laboratories. But now the transparency trend is about to drive change in the provider directories that health insurance plans make available to their beneficiaries and consumers.
When choosing a health plan, many people look for insurance that includes their own physician, or at least a doctor close to home. That is why an accurate and up-to-date provider list is essential to consumer choice and access.
But many health insurers fall short in this regard. California recently released chastising reports on two of its major health plans, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (ABCBS) (NYSE:WLP) and Blue Shield of California, (BSCA) for publishing inaccurate provider lists on the state’s California Covered insurance exchange. (more…)
Feb 27, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Demand for a rapid, accurate diagnostic solution to combat Ebola is motivating research teams in many countries to develop solutions that can be put to immediate use
In West Africa, the outbreak of Ebola in several countries motivated researchers in Germany to develop a fast, accurate, and inexpensive test that could be performed in patient care settings without the need for a centralized medical laboratory.
In these West African countries, lack of electricity and reliable cold storage or diagnostic equipment handicaps clinical laboratory technicians who are testing patients for the Ebola virus. A new test developed by researchers at the German Primate Center (DPZ) in Göttingen, Germany, cuts the time to answer an Ebola diagnosis to just 15 minutes. It requires no electricity and is portable. Previously, the fastest Ebola diagnostics test took three hours to get results and required transporting samples to often-distant medical laboratories. (more…)
Feb 16, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
This advanced medical laboratory test looks for 95 genetic mutations associated with cancers of the blood and may provide pathologists with a new diagnostic tool
Seeking a faster time to answer when diagnosing patients with cancers of the blood, researchers and pathologists at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) in Boston have developed a unique clinical laboratory assay that involves multiple genes and just takes days to perform.
This high-tech genetic diagnostic test is called Rapid Heme Panel. It scans DNA in blood or bone marrow specimens. It uses powerful next-gen sequencing technology that searches for 95 genes that frequently mutate in blood cancers, according to a press release issued by DF/BWCC.
At Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s cancer center, this medical laboratory test is used in patients with leukemia, Myelodysplastic syndromes caused by poorly formed or dysfunctional blood cells, and myeloproliferative disorders that fill the bone marrow with abnormal blood cells. (more…)
Jan 28, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Innovative device uses acoustic sound waves to gently separate circulating cancer cells from white blood cells
In many respects, the ability to separate and identify circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is one of the holy grails of cancer diagnostics. It is widely believed that a clinical laboratory test that can effectively identify CTCs would contribute to earlier detection of cancer and improved outcomes for caner patients.
Pathologists will be interested to learn about a useful new tool that can flag circulating tumor cells. Researchers say that this approach enables them to determine if a cancerous tumor is going to spread, without tagging tumor cells with harsh chemicals. This gentler alternative to current diagnostic methods involves an innovative device that uses “tilted” sound waves to sort tumor cells from white blood cells, noted a report in Headlines & Global News.
This device is about the size of a cell phone. It was developed by a team of scientists from the Pennsylvania State University (PSU), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
Their research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The research study was published by PNAS, the journal of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, January 5, 2015. (more…)
