Mar 30, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
IBM Health’s data combined with Truven’s patient records will create an enormous big-data collection representing 300 million patient lives
If any pathologist or clinical laboratory manager still doubts the importance of healthcare big data, the multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Truven Health Analytics by IBM should put those doubts to rest.
Last month, IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM) announced an agreement to acquire Truven Health Analytics, (Truven) for $2.6 billion. Truven is a provider of cloud-based healthcare, analytics, and insights and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (more…)
Mar 28, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Federal agency hopes its open-source precisionFDA web portal will aid in development of laboratory-developed tests and inform regulatory decision-making
One recent initiative launched by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to foster the greater sharing of genetic information may be of some value to pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists who are developing laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) that incorporate molecular and genetic technologies.
The FDA unveiled an open-source platform for community sharing of genetic information. It is called precisionFDA, and the FDA describes its new web platform as an “online, cloud-based portal that will allow scientist from industry, academia, government, and other partners to come together to foster innovation and develop the science” of next-generation DNA sequencing processing. (more…)
Mar 9, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
High rates of variability from one drop to another raise questions about the reliability of point of care testing equipment and companies that collect lab specimens only with finger sticks
Since last fall, one news report after another has come out with bad news for Theranos Inc., the high-profile medical laboratory company. The reports have ranged from dissatisfaction among Theranos’ partners, such as Walgreens and Capital BlueCross, to failed inspection reports from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In response, the embattled lab company in Palo Alto, Calif., has maintained that it is doing everything it can to correct any deficiencies in its clinical laboratory testing methods and to ensure its partners that its processes are scientifically sound and its methods valid. (more…)
Mar 7, 2016 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Patent filing describes a device that is intended to allow patients to collect their own blood specimens without the need for needles
Google, (now known as Alphabet, Inc.; NASDAQ:GOOG) recently filed an application for another patent that deals with medical laboratory test technology. This patent application is for a needle-free blood draw system that enables patients to perform diagnostic testing on themselves.
The new system is designed to replace painful finger pricks and deliver diagnostic test results digitally to providers’ electronic health record (EHR) systems. Should the technology make it through clinical trials, widespread adoption of such a device could have sweeping implications for pathologists and clinical laboratories across America. (more…)
Mar 4, 2016 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Of the five trends described in a report published by Kalorama, only two made the list for both years: Consolidation within the IVD industry and growth in molecular point of care
What a difference one year can make in the most significant trends influencing the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry, which also influences clinical laboratories, the largest customers of IVD manufacturers. These insights come from comparing the top five IVD trends for 2016 as identified by Kalorama Information from its top five IVD trends that it says dominated during 2015.
Kalorama is a division of MarketResearch.com, a company that publishes market research in the life sciences. In a report titled, “Five IVD Market Trends to Watch for in 2016,” it published its picks for the top five trends in IVD testing for 2016. The five most prominent trends recognized by the healthcare research marketer are as follows: (more…)
Feb 29, 2016 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Incident highlights need for anatomic pathology and clinical laboratories to protect computer and LIS systems from hackers and malware
Anatomic pathology labs and clinical laboratories that continue to run Microsoft Windows XP on their computer systems now have a real threat to address. In Australia, the computers in a hospital’s medical laboratory were infected in January with a computer virus that shut down the system. To maintain clinical services, the lab staff was forced to use paper-based methods, among other solutions.
The computer virus crippled the pathology department at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and spread throughout the hospital system by targeting computers running Microsoft Windows XP. This is a 14-year-old operating system that Microsoft no longer supports.
According to a story in iTnews, the Qbot malware first infected computers in Royal Melbourne Hospital’s pathology department in mid-January, handcuffing the pathology department. Staff was forced to develop manual workarounds to process specimens and to record and communicate results. (more…)
