Clinical Laboratories Face Deadline to Comply with New Standard for Bar Code Labels on Specimens

Complying with this standard will help reduce errors by improving specimen handling and tracking, and also reduce lab costs by boosting accuracy and quality. Clinical laboratories have about nine months to comply with a new standard for bar code labels. The deadline for compliance to AUTO12-A, Specimen Labels: Content and Location, Fonts, and Label Orientation, is April 29, 2014. While compliance next year will not affect a lab’s accreditation, in the coming years accrediting bodies, such as...

IBM Watson Picks Advisory Board—but No Pathologist

Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists have an opportunity to expand the presence of laboratory medicine IBM (NYSE: IBM) recently issued a press release announcing its new Watson Healthcare Advisory Board (WHAB). The board is comprised of healthcare leaders with a broad range of research, medical and business expertise. Unfortunately, that expertise does not include pathology or specialists in laboratory medicine. “Watson represents a technology breakthrough that can help...
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