PRESS RELEASE
THE DARK REPORT
21806 Briarcliff Dr.
Spicewood, Texas 78669
512-264-7103 o
512-264-0969 f
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Ron Martin
rbmartin@darkreport.com
AUSTIN, Texas (March 11, 2016) — Clinical laboratories are introducing 10 new molecular and genetic tests every day, a rate of growth that has produced 60,000 tests currently available for clinical use. This remarkable number means finding and ordering the right test is more challenging for labs than ever before.
“With the market for molecular and genetic tests growing so quickly, few labs have the expertise needed to effectively manage the utilization of these tests,” says Robert L. Michel, Editor-in-Chief of The Dark Report. “It has become a virtual impossibility for labs to even keep pace with the need for increased data on tests and prices—let alone efficiently managing test selection, test costs, and send-out errors.
“Effective lab test utilization is a key critical factor in a laboratory’s success,’” continued Michel. “Consequently, there is a tremendous need in the lab industry for expert knowledge and insights regarding the utilization of expensive send-out molecular and genetic tests.”
To address these issues, The Dark Report has arranged a special webinar entitled “Improving the Utilization of Molecular and Genetic Tests: Strategies for Appropriate Test Selection, Achieving Error Reduction and Cost Savings, and Improving Patient Outcomes,” being presented Wednesday, March 16 at 1 PM EDT. During this 90-minute webinar, attendees will learn about innovative new utilization management programs designed to ensure the appropriate use of genetic and esoteric tests, more effectively control costs, decrease ordering errors, and improve the value of testing for both patients and providers.
Presenters are Mike Astion, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, Department of Laboratories at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Mark Harris, Ph.D., MBA, CEO and Founder of NextGxDx in Franklin, TN. Dr. Astion is one of the founders of the Pediatric Laboratory Utilization Guidance Service (PLUGS), a national collaboration of institutions working on test utilization management strategies to improve the value of testing by decreasing both errors and unnecessary testing costs. Dr. Harris founded NextGxDx, comprised of a dynamic team of clinicians, data scientists, and software engineers, working to bring efficiency and transparency to the growing field of genetic testing.
Astion and Harris bring a wealth of unique and valuable insights to this webinar. At a time when hospitals are experiencing fewer inpatient admissions and budgets are declining, tighter management of every source of unnecessary or excessive cost becomes a financial priority. The issues associated with ordering molecular and genetic tests are an important, pragmatic driver. The presenters will help attendees better understand where and how they are spending money on molecular and genetic tests, and where they are losing money. They will guide webinar participants toward identifying opportunities to make more informed choices, to close their knowledge gaps, and to achieve improved patient safety and financial outcomes through better utilization management of molecular and genetic tests.
As an extra value-added benefit of this webinar, the end of the session will be opened up for a live Q&A. For more information about “Improving the Utilization of Molecular and Genetic Tests: Strategies for Appropriate Test Selection, Achieving Error Reduction and Cost Savings, and Improving Patient Outcomes” and to view webinar details including presenter biographies and pricing, visit http://bit.ly/1YGqTGd. You may also contact Ron Martin at 512-264-7103.
About THE DARK REPORT
Established in 1995, THE DARK REPORT is the leading source of exclusive business intelligence for laboratory CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Pathologists and Senior industry executives. It is widely read by leaders in laboratory medicine and diagnostics. The Dark Report produces the famous Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management every spring, which showcases innovations by the nation’s and globe’s leading laboratory organizations. Dark Daily is an Internet-based e-briefing intelligence service, read worldwide by thought leaders in laboratory and pathology management. Other well-known conferences conducted by THE DARK REPORT are Lab Quality Confab (on the use of Lean and Six Sigma methods in labs and hospitals) and Molecular Summit (on the integration of in vivo and in vitro diagnostics). THE DARK REPORT co-produces Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine annually in the United Kingdom; Executive Edge bi-annually in Canada; and The Business of Pathology bi-annually in Australia.
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