News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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Why More Clinical Laboratory Sales Managers Are Failing in Today’s Fast-Evolving Healthcare Marketplace

Sales managers at top-performing medical labs and pathology groups are directing the lab sales reps to develop new clients who can refer lab tests that are still adequately reimbursed

In today’s rough-and-tumble healthcare marketplace, every clinical laboratory and pathology group needs a sales manager or sales vice president who is at that top of the game in managing productive sales reps, achieving growth targets, and strengthening their lab’s financial stability.

Labs with strong sales leaders are doing much better financially at a time when payers are slashing the prices they pay for medical laboratory tests. (more…)

National Institutes of Health Creates Partnership with Big Pharma to Improve Development Success of New Drugs and Diagnostics and Speed FDA Clearance

Pathology groups and clinical laboratories are among the beneficiaries if the Accelerating Medicines Partnership achieves its goals

Power players in healthcare are about to invest nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to accelerate the time it takes for new medical discoveries to gain regulatory approval and enter clinical use. The emphasis will be on both therapeutic drugs and diagnostics, making this an important development for in vitro diagnostics companies and medical laboratories.

Anchors to this new initiative are the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Their partners are 10 pharmaceutical companies and six nonprofit groups. The goal is to jumpstart research to find targets for new drugs and diagnostics, noted a Genomeweb.com article. (more…)

Kaiser’s Ranking of 10 Least Expensive Markets for Health Insurance Contain Surprises and Show Where Prices for Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Testing May be Cheapest

Study by Kaiser Health News and NPR shows that Minnesota, Northwestern Pennsylvania, and Tucson, Arizona are among the least expensive health insurance markets in the United States

Are you lucky to live in one of the nation’s 10 lowest-cost markets for health insurance? Researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation published a study that identifies the 10 regional markets in the United States where health insurance costs are the cheapest.

Pathology groups and medical laboratories serving these 10 regions are thus probably getting paid less fee-for-service reimbursement than in other more expensive regions of the United States. The study shows how variable the cost of the same healthcare insurance plan can be from one city to the next across the nation. (more…)

In 2013, Healthcare Experienced Largest Drop in Job Growth Since 1990 and Hospitals Are Shedding Jobs; These Trends Are Likely to Mean Less Resources for Hospital Laboratories

Market indicators support predictions of tougher financial times ahead for hospital-based clinical laboratories and pathology groups 

New statistics for 2013 on employment in the healthcare and hospital sectors show the lowest rates of growth since 1990. This is a signal to pathologists and clinical laboratory executives that much belt-tightening is taking place by all types of providers.

For 2013, the healthcare sector added just 271,000 jobs. This was 2% less than the annual average since 1990, noted a recent report in Modern Healthcare. (more…)

More Consolidation in the Clinical Laboratory Industry, as Quest Diagnostics Agrees to Pay $570 Million to Acquire Solstas Lab Partners

When completed, this acquisition will give Quest Diagnostics a major laboratory presence in the backyard of competitor Laboratory Corporation of America

Another big lab domino fell in the continuing consolidation of the clinical laboratory testing industry. This time it was Solstas Lab Partners, which announced that it would be acquired by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX).

The agreement was announced by both companies earlier this week. Quest Diagnostics will pay $570 million to acquire Solstas, which is based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Solstas provides medical laboratory testing services to clients in nine states across the South. Quest Diagnostics says it expects to close the sale by the middle of this year, subject to the usual regulatory reviews of such transactions. (more…)

23andMe and Udacity Launch ‘Massive Online Open Course’ in Human Genetics

Innovative web-based educational formats might add value to training initiatives for pathology residents and fellows and medical laboratory workers

In the final months of 2013, the regulatory fight between gene testing company 23andMe.com and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generated national headlines. In that encounter, 23andMe.com blinked and ceased offering health-related genetic tests to consumers.

However, the company continues to work to position itself as a major player in genetic testing and genetic medicine. In the second half of 2013, for example, 23andMe.com initiated a business campaign to position itself as a source of on-line information about genetics for educational purposes. (more…)

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