U.K.’s most popular pathology laboratory management event set for January 26-27, 2010 in Birmingham
In the United Kingdom and Europe, pathology and clinical laboratory services are transforming at a steady rate. This is particularly true in the England, where the National Health Service (NHS) is actively emphasizing earlier diagnosis and intervention and chronic disease management in primary care by general practitioners. In turn, pathology laboratories in that country are aligning laboratory testing services to improve clinical outcomes and support new and evolving healthcare priorities.
These and other important developments in laboratory medicine will be front and center at the upcoming Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine 2010 (FILM), which takes place on January 26-27, 2010 at the Austin Court in Birmingham, England. FiLM brings together innovators and leaders in pathology testing from the United Kingdom, Europe, and North America to share their most important breakthroughs in pathology management and operations.
“Delegates at this year’s FiLM will get a detailed look at how progressive laboratories are responding to key trends and challenges in healthcare and lab medicine,” stated Jeff Seneviratne, who is Executive Director of FiLM 2010. “This is a ‘must attend’ event for laboratory directors, clinical biochemists, pathologists, and leaders who are interested in keeping their laboratories at the leading edge of operational and clinical excellence.
“One unique aspect of FiLM is the format which brings together a pathology innovator from the United Kingdom or Europe together with a professional counterpart from either Canada or the United States,” he explained. “These tandem case studies are popular because they showcase different solutions to common problems in laboratory testing.
“From the United States, Chris Wood, M.D., who is Medical Director of Information systems at Intermountain Health Care in the United States, will discuss how his 21-hospital health system—one of the most respected in that country—is using health information data sets, including laboratory testing, to guide doctors in ways that deliver improved patient outcomes,” said Seneviratne.
“Offering a European perspective on similar initiatives is Gregor Rothe, Laboratory Director at Laborzentrum Bremen in Bremen, Germany,” he continued. “In the case of Germany, health system efforts to achieve better outcomes while driving down costs has created unintended consequences for pathology testing. Rothe will discuss how pathology laboratories in Germany are responding to these developments.
“A second theme is how to respond to reductions to the budgets that fund pathology testing services,” he added. “On that topic, we have presentations about the use of Lean Six Sigma in the United Kingdom and in the United States. In the United Kingdom, an example of a top-performing histopathology laboratory using Lean Six Sigma is Path Links, in Lincolnshire. Pathologist David Clark, M.D., Path Links Director, will provide details about how and why this effort was successful in improving turnaround times while significantly lowering costs in the laboratory.
“From the United States, Leo Serrano of Avera McKennan Laboratories in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has a compelling case study of blending both automation and Lean methods in a laboratory that was one of the first in the United States to earn accreditation under ISO:15189 Medical Laboratories,” noted Seneviratne. “He will discuss how microbiology is being disrupted by both new automated systems and Lean Six Sigma.
“In England, now that health services are commissioned, there are new challenges for pathology services “and we have three regions ready to discuss their response to these developments,” he added. “Speakers from Cumbria and Lancashire, Kent and Medway, and GSTS Pathology LLP, in London will compare how they are interacting with commissioners.”
“That’s not to overlook sessions on ‘Voice of the Customer’ (U.S.), clinical leadership (U.K. and U.S.), and the effect the changing economic and financial environment will have on health funding—and therefore on pathology services (U.K. and U.S.),” stated Seneviratne. “FiLM is a rich two days of learning and will be followed by an optional full day satellite meeting, conducted by the NHS Improvement Team, on techniques and case studies in improvement across all areas of the laboratory.
“FiLM is an invaluable resource for all laboratory professionals and managers interested in keeping their lab organizations at peak performance,” he added. “It is concentrated learning about the most important issues and challenges in pathology today. Because it brings together national and international leaders in pathology, it offers the best networking on this side of the Atlantic.”
Guarantee your place at Frontier in Laboratory Medicine by registering today. There’s an early bird registration discount, so act now and save even more money!
You’ll find the full agenda, with speakers and topics. Or access the entire programme brochure by pasting this URL into your browser: http://www.frontiersinlabmedicine.com/resources/PDFs/FiLM-2009-Brochure.pdf
FILM Related Information:
• Full program information and speaker agenda for Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine
• Download a PDF of the full agenda for Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine Or paste this URL into your browser: http://www.frontiersinlabmedicine.com/resources/PDFs/FiLM-2009-Brochure.pdf)
• To register for Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine or paste this URL into your browser: http://www.acb.org.uk/site/film.asp
• Visit the Association of Clinical Biochemists web site:
• Visit The Dark Report web site:
More Information:
U.S. spotlight on Intermountain Healthcare
United States learns healthcare lessons from Europe
Achieving World Class Performance with Lean Six Sigma
Easy Lean Exercises for Clinical Laboratories
Making Health Care Better (profiling Intermountain Healthcare)
