Apr 19, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
As automation transforms the manual work processes in the histopathology laboratory, “floaters” may become a thing of the past
Any histotechnologist and pathologist familiar with the manual work processes commonly in use in histopathology laboratories knows about “floaters.” These are the pesky artifacts that are a consequence of the common practice of manually processing tissue through the series of H&E linear baths required for the proper staining of these samples prior to analysis by anatomic pathologists.
“Floaters” are a relevant example of why manual work processes in the histopathology laboratory can be the source of errors and mistakes. Certain types of floaters—including floaters consisting of malignant tissue fragments—have the potential to contaminate the patient specimen. This can negatively impact patient safety and even contribute to a misdiagnosis of the patient. Moreover, the issue of floaters has been around for decades, because the manual work processes involving the H&E (hematoxylin and eosin stain) linear baths have remained relatively unchanged during this time.
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Feb 28, 2011 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Gap between supply and demand for Medical Laboratory Technologists (MT) encourages greater use of laboratory automation
If there is a Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of pathologists and clinical laboratory managers, it is the largest workforce shortage in the history of the medical laboratory industry. For 2011 and beyond, demand for skilled medical technologists (MT) and clinical laboratory scientists (CLS) will far outstrip supply.
Today, many hospital and health system laboratories operate short-staffed. They are unable to recruit and retain even the number of staff positions that are authorized and budgeted. In cases where a thriving hospital laboratory outreach program is generating substantial annual increases in the volume of specimens to be tested, the medical laboratory’s inability to recruit the additional MTs and CLSs required to handle this work creates a high-stress environment for everyone in the laboratory organization.
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Feb 2, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Speakers at Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine See Increased Role for Pathology
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND—As our North American readers of Dark Daily arrive for work this morning, it will be late afternoon here in the United Kingdom and the last presentations on the second day of the 10th annual Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM) will be wrapping up.
It was a packed auditorium this year at FiLM, as clinical biochemists, pathologists, and medical laboratory scientists gathered to learn about achieving best practices in pathology management and clinical laboratory operations. One reason for this heightened interest is the major reforms already cascading throughout the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS).
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Sep 6, 2010 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
New resource library on clinical pathology laboratory management can be accessed via Web
There is a new resource library for clinical laboratory managers and pathologists that contains White Papers on contemporary topics involving clinical laboratory management, pathology administration, and the medical laboratory testing marketplace. This White Paper library is hosted at www.DarkDaily.com/white-papers and is a useful new information resource for the clinical laboratory profession.
The White Paper resource library is another example of how the Internet and Web 2.0 creates new educational opportunities for medical laboratory professionals and pathologists. The White Papers on clinical laboratory and pathology topics can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere in the world. Each White Paper can be downloaded immediately as a PDF.
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Jan 17, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Enriched exchange of digital pathology images and clinical knowledge is the goal
Digital scanning and digital pathology systems represent a major transformational force in the field of anatomic pathology. Momentum in favor of wider adoption by pathologists and pathology laboratories continues to build, reinforced, in part, by an interesting new development, which one pathologist calls “Pathology 2.0.”
Pathology 2.0 describes how Web 2.0 functions can be integrated with digital imaging and digital pathology systems to improve the productivity and quality of pathology workflow. It was Keith Kaplan, M.D., Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who first articulated the intersection of digital scanning and digital pathology systems with Web 2.0 functions as the core of Pathology 2.0, a term he coined.
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