May 29, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Younger Gen X and Gen Y pathologists have different workplace expectations
Aging Baby Boomers are about to retire and double the nation’s population of senior citizens. Meanwhile, a decline in the pool of practicing physicians-the majority of which are part of the Boomer generation-has put the United States on a collision course for the gravest shortage of physicians in our nation’s history.
For medical laboratories, these demographic trends will change the way labs hire, compensate, and retain pathologists. Cejka Search , a St. Louis firm specializing in physician recruitment, recently issued a report on physician recruitment. Among other things, Cejka Search states that the physician shortage has already created tremendous competition among practices for young doctors. In turn, these young doctors demand more in compensation and perks because they can.
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Apr 22, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
As out-of-pocket costs for health care rise, consumers are motivated to manage their own care and insurers are providing them tools to make the job easier. The latest innovation, which is available exclusively to WellPoint and North Carolina Blues plan members, is a consumer rating system from Zagat that helps people shop for doctors.
This interesting new development was recently the subject of a detailed intelligence briefing in April 6, 2009 issue of The Dark Report. The Zagat Health Survey is designed to be both doctor friendly and easy for patients to use. It does not address physician quality. Rather, it offers a snapshot of individual physicians-based on criteria that impact the consumer experience. Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists will eventually need to respond to this trend. That’s because, as it becomes more common for consumers to rate providers, health plans will begin asking their beneficiaries to rate the service they received from medical laboratory test providers.
Patients are asked to rate a physician on four criteria, using a scale of 0 to 3, with 3 being excellent. Zagat then averages consumer scores for a physician and multiplies by 10 to create the familiar Zagat 0-30 number ratings. Reviewers are also asked if they would recommend the doctor to other plan members.
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Apr 14, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
First-ever Gathering of Lab CFOs, Controllers to take place on April 28-29, 2009
News that the number of hospital jobs in the United States fell for the first time since June 2004 reveals several useful insights for clinical laboratory managers and pathologists. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, for March 2008, the number of hospital jobs declined by 700, against a total hospital workforce of 4.71 million.
This small decline-less than one-tenth of one percent-demonstrates that demand for hospital services continues to be relatively resistant to economic declines. However, other Labor Bureau statistics highlight a darker picture for the long-term fortunes of hospitals. The entire healthcare sector picked up a net increase of 16,500 jobs, with most of this coming from the ambulatory services sector. For example, physicians’ offices added a net of 3,200 workers. By contrast, the overall U.S. economy shed 663,000 jobs in March, with the national unemployment rate ending the month at 8.5%.
As reflected in these numbers for March, hospital employment declined by a tick while overall employment in healthcare increased in spite of the economic recession. This illustrates two fundamental trends in healthcare. First, demand for health services during this recession remains robust enough that hospitals continue to need almost all their workers. Second, growth in outpatient demand for services continues to outstrip growth in demand for inpatient services.
To understand the implications of these trends on clinical laboratories and pathology laboratories, the first-ever national gathering of laboratory CFOs (chief financial officers), controllers, and financial experts is taking place in New Orleans on April 28-29, 2009 at the Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management. This unique session will be led by Kurt Rogers, CFO of Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML) of Spokane, Washington. Access the full agenda with this agenda link.
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Nov 21, 2008 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Here’s another example of taking existing laboratory technology and applying it in a new way. A scientist at Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom is using an existing technology to create what he describes as “intelligent molecules,” capable of identifying tags in human cells that could signal the presence of organisms common in an epidemic. They also could be use to track infections in a population and identify patients who would be vulnerable to certain infections.
This new application of existing technology earned A. Prasanna de Silva, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Organic Chemistry at Queen’s University, the 2008 Royal Society of Chemistry’s Sensors Award, sponsored by GE Healthcare. The award is given biannually for chemical input into the design of novel sensors or novel applications of existing sensors.
The technology incorporates fluorescent “catch and tell” sensors that emit light signals when they catch chemicals in the blood. It is familiar technology to most laboratories, as it is incorporated into in blood diagnostic cassettes sold worldwide. Hospitals, ambulances, veterinarians, and others use this fluorescent sensor technology to monitor blood for levels of common salt components such as sodium, potassium, and calcium.
The worldwide market for this type of blood diagnostic cassettes totals $50 million. Roche Diagnostics Inc. uses the fluorescent sensor technology in the chemistry module of the OPTI point-of-care blood analyzer, a module that has produced worldwide sales of $39 million.
Using an extension of the same design, de Silva has developed molecules that act as ‘logic gates,’ which are similar to the mechanisms in computers. De Silva and colleagues at Queen’s University are using these molecular logic gates as identification tags for objects the size of biological cells.
The new application could be used in a variety of clinical and other settings, de Silva said. “One such use could be as an ID tag for cells in an epidemic, such as a bird-flu outbreak,” he explained. “From a population, our sensor molecules could help track infection and highlight vulnerable people. Another one is a ‘lab-on-a-molecule’ system which combines several lab tests with a rudimentary diagnosis without human intervention.”
This example demonstrates how advances in science, combined with the ongoing ability to continually shrink the size of diagnostic analyzers, will package long-established and familiar diagnostic technologies in new ways. It is a reminder that, outside today’s clinical laboratory, large numbers of research projects and biotech companies are rapidly developing new assays. It is one reason why laboratory medicine is almost overwhelmed by the daily and weekly stream of press releases and product launches for new biomarkers and new laboratory tests.
Related Information:
New ‘Catch-And-Tell’ Molecules Designed By Queen’s Chemist
New ‘Catch-and-tell’ Molecules Send Out Light Signals When They Catch Chemicals In Blood
Nov 17, 2008 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Pathology
As healthcare becomes a global business, laboratory vendors from overseas are casting an envious eye on the market in the United States. After all, it is the world’s biggest and richest healthcare market, with more than $2 trillion in spending. Better yet, because healthcare in this country is organized around multiple payers and private providers, it provides competitive opportunities that don’t exist in many countries with single-payer health systems. (more…)
