COLA Clinical Laboratory Workforce Summit in Fort Worth, Texas, Engages Stakeholders in Effort to Train More Medical Laboratory Scientists

May 10, 2023 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Resources, Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Conferences

Representatives from almost 50 different clinical laboratories, professional associations, and societies came together this week to align efforts to expand the supply and retention of qualified laboratory scientists FORT WORTH, TEXAS—Last week, representatives from a broad cross section of clinical laboratories, lab and pathology associations, public health laboratories, and lab regulatory bodies gathered specifically to identify ways to expand the number of skilled lab professionals. COLA...

Walgreens Continues Expansion into Primary Care as VillageMD Acquires Starling Physicians Group with 30 Locations in Connecticut

Mar 27, 2023 | Lab and Pathology Mergers, Acquisitions, Valuations, Laboratory Mergers and Acquisitions, Laboratory News, Laboratory Testing, Precision Medicine

Expect there to be more clinical laboratory testing at pharmacies as retail pharmacy chains expand their primary care offerings Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) of Deerfield, Illinois, continues to expand its primary care footprint with VillageMD’s latest acquisition of Starling Physicians, a multi-specialty physicians group with 30 locations in Connecticut, according to a VillageMD news release. Walgreens is the majority owner of VillageMD, which now has more than 700 medical centers,...

India’s Central Government Tasks 15 Viral Research and Clinical Laboratories to Perform Monkeypox Surveillance Testing

Sep 21, 2022 | International Laboratory News, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

South Asian nation aims to do what US, UK, and Europe failed to do during start of COVID-19 pandemic and slow spread of disease while case counts are low With monkeypox quickly spreading around the world, India may be taking a lesson from western nations’ delayed response to COVID-19—including a sometimes slow availability of clinical lab testing for monkeypox—and preemptively increasing its national surveillance of the deadly social disease. On Aug. 29, the Hindustan Times reported that in an...

Nearly One Million Patient Records of Hospitals, Health Clinics, Medical Laboratories, and other Providers Stolen in Ransomware Attack on Medical Records Company

Sep 19, 2022 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Resources, Laboratory Testing

Clinical labs should proactively investigate how a vendor will respond to a data security incident and how quickly, says expert Clinical laboratory managers in New York and surrounding areas should be aware that  almost one million protected health information (PHI) records from as many as 28 healthcare providers appear to have been stolen from a medical records company that services these providers. Practice Resources LLC (PRL), a company that provides billing services for dozens of hospitals...

When It Comes to Monkeypox Testing, Clinical Laboratories Should Be Aware of Five Significant Developments

Aug 29, 2022 | International Laboratory News, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Resources, Laboratory Testing

There are reports of phlebotomists refusing to draw monkeypox blood samples and social stigma surrounding the disease can affect who gets a medical laboratory test Cases of monkeypox are increasing in the US—14,115 as of Aug. 19, up 1,400 from the prior week—and clinical laboratories around the country are bracing for a potential increase in monkeypox testing orders. Several factors, however, are affecting the testing. Chief among them: Lab workers refusing to take blood draws from potential...