Oct 15, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
Pathologists and medical laboratory professionals heard speakers from Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada discuss the latest developments in POCT
TORONTO, ONTARIO—Spirited discussion always results when pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals discuss point-of-care testing (POCT). That was certainly true during a special POCT workshop that took place here this week.
Attendees came from as far away as Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand to attend “Point-of-Care Testing: Today and Tomorrow.” The conference was produced by the Toronto-based Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH).
Point-of-Care Testing Has an Essential Role in Patient Care
As most medical laboratory scientists know, POCT can be both a blessing and a curse. When used properly, POCT plays an essential role in patient care and can guide physicians in ways that improve outcomes. However, problems associated with the ongoing management and performance of an organization’s POCT program regularly frustrates laboratory scientists tasked with oversight of POCT. (more…)
Jan 25, 2012 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Genetic testing and molecular diagnostics will be essential to wider adoption of personalized medicine by nation’s physicians
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA—Here in Silicon Valley at the Personalized Medicine World Conference (PMWC), the role of clinical laboratory testing and anatomic pathology services was consistently recognized as essential in advancing this important healthcare trend. Yet, at the same time, few pathologists or clinical laboratory executives were in attendance.
Your Dark Daily Editor, Robert L. Michel, was here at PMWC this week to speak on the topic of how medical laboratories and pathology groups will be one primary—and important—channel for helping physicians adopt and use personalized medicine in their medical practice. In simplest terms, it is typically pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals who educate doctors about the availability of new clinical lab tests and how to use them in their practice of medicine.
In that role, the medical laboratory provides physicians with information on when to order these new assays, how to interpret the lab test results, and how to use those results to determine the most appropriate therapy. Yet, here at the Personalized Medicine World Conference, developers at biotech companies seem to be overlooking this long-established fact in the clinical care marketplace. (more…)
Sep 26, 2011 | Uncategorized
Clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories may soon find next-generation DNA sequencing reliable and affordable
Swift advances in whole human genome sequencing may bring clinical applications to pathology on a much faster timeline than expected.
One impressive example of the fast pace of technology improvements is the Ion Torrent, which is a semiconductor-based DNA sequencer now capable of sequencing 100 million base pairs. That is ten times the sequencer’s capacity when it was launched just last December!
It was August of last year when Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE) in Carlsbad, California, paid $375 million to acquire Ion Torrent Systems, a start-up with operations in Guilford, Connecticut, and South San Francisco. If Ion Torrent achieves certain technical milestones through 2012, it will earn another $350 million.
(more…)
Feb 9, 2011 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists take note: 80% of physicians will be using mobile technology by 2012
Meet “mHealth!” That’s the new term to describe how mobile devices are used in the delivery of healthcare to patients. Many clinical laboratories and pathology groups already have laboratory informatics solutions that support how their client physicians use mHealth solutions in patient care.
Experts predict that Smartphones will dominate mobile healthcare (mHealth) in just a few short years. The enabling tools will be mobile applications (apps) that monitor such conditions as diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease and asthma. Smart phones will also be used to order medical laboratory tests and access clinical laboratory test data.
(more…)
Jan 10, 2011 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Pathology
Pharmaceutical Companies Partnering with IVD Manufacturers to Develop Companion Diagnostic Tests for their Therapeutic Drugs
Growing acceptance of companion diagnostics is a trend with the potential to greatly increase the value that clinical pathology laboratory testing delivers to physicians, patients, and payers. In 2010, it was increasingly common to see a pharmaceutical company announce an agreement with an in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturer to develop a companion diagnostic test specifically for a therapeutic drug under development by that pharmaceutical company.
As most pathologists and clinical managers know, use of a companion diagnostic test is expected to add precision to the physician’s decision to prescribe therapeutic drugs. Thus, the increased number of public announcements during 2010 about companion diagnostic test development deals involving a pharmaceutical company and an IVD manufacturer indicates this trend is establishing solid roots. (more…)
