Mar 19, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Because of the failure of many EHR products to obtain MU Stage 2 certification, physicians using those EHRs are being forced to buy and implement a different EHR
Like the jaws of a vise squeezing together, the nation’s clinical laboratories and pathology groups now find themselves caught in the jaws of the federal government’s complex program to encourage providers to adopt and use electronic health record (EHR) systems.
One jaw is the failure of many EHR systems to certify to Meaningful Use Stage Two requirements, thus exposing physicians using those EHRs to substantial Medicare penalties as early as this year.
The other jaw of this proverbial vise is the need—for the second time—for many medical laboratories to spend substantial amounts of money to create a new LIS-to-EHR interface to those client physicians who are replacing their first EHR system, because it is not certified to Meaningful Use Stage 2 and they want to avoid Medicare penalties for use of a non-certified EHR. (more…)
Mar 11, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
These genetic tests cut time to answer from days to a few hours, reducing the risk of exposing non-infected patients and improving outcomes for Ebola patients
In response to the continuing outbreak of Ebola in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, more attention has been given to medical laboratory testing in these countries, along with a rush to develop diagnostic tests that can detect Ebola faster and more accurately without the need for state-of-the art clinical laboratories that are uncommon in those nations.The lack of even limited basic services in the region, such as electricity, hinders any attempt to install modern diagnostic facilities and clinical laboratories essential to controlling and preventing further spread of the disease. Another issue is the lack of trained pathologists, Ph.Ds., and clinical laboratory scientists to staff such labs in those nations.
One solution to this challenge, however, is for developed nations to provide mobile medical laboratories and hospital facilities. Such resources have been contributed by the United States, Canada, and several European countries. (more…)
Mar 9, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
New technology accurately distinguishes between cancerous cells and healthy cells. Will it give pathologists a “universal” assay for cancer diagnosis?
In England, a university team has developed a new technology for detecting circulating cancer cells in blood. Their method uses ultraviolet light and the results are so promising that efforts are now underway to develop this method into a clinical laboratory test.
That is why pathologists and medical laboratory professionals may soon have a new tool in their arsenal: one that significantly aids physicians and medical laboratories in the diagnosis of cancer. (more…)
Mar 4, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers could find opportunity to add value as providers learn to use big data to improve patient outcomes and lower costs
Early adopter accountable care organizations (ACOs) are establishing data warehouses. This is a first step in collecting and analyzing healthcare big data. The move toward integrated care makes big data critical to an ACO’s success. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will want to follow the healthcare big data trend because laboratory test results will be a major component of that data.
The Goal of Healthcare Big Data
The goal for healthcare big data is twofold: 1) develop the ability to aggregate a vast amount of data from wide-ranging sources, and 2) use that data in real time to improve care and lower costs, a recent story published in Modern Healthcare (MH) reported. New performance-based reimbursement models mean that big data analytics will be essential for ACOs to succeed going forward. (more…)
Feb 25, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Researchers at Imperial College London report that their new nanoparticles make it possible for cancer to be visible in magnetic resonance imaging
Even as pathologists are working to develop more sensitive and accurate diagnostic tests for cancer, similar efforts are underway in radiology and imaging. In fact, one research team has developed a self-assembling nanoparticle that can adhere to cancer cells, thus making them visible in MRI scans and possibly eliminate the need for invasive tissue biopsies.
Clinical pathologists and medical laboratory managers will be interested in this research, which is being done at Imperial College London (Imperial). Researchers there have developed a self-assembling nanoparticle that targets cancer cells and makes them visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. (more…)
Feb 23, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Venture capitalists are betting $100 million that an entrepreneur can develop an inexpensive and portable imaging device that can be used by office-based physicians
There’s a serious effort, funded by venture capitalists, to create a compact medical imaging device with the capabilities to disrupt the existing radiology profession. Developers intend to create a more accurate imaging technology that also costs much less than the expensive imaging systems in common use today.
Biomedical entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg aims to create a new hand-held medical imaging device that can make MRI and ultrasounds significantly cheaper and more efficient, reported Wired magazine. Rothberg is founder of the Butterfly Network, Inc.
Rothberg’s goal is to make it possible for office-based physicians to use a point-of-care imaging tool that costs just a couple hundred dollars. It might also help patients in poor regions of the world gain access to imaging tests and better healthcare. (more…)
