Oct 5, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
This breakthrough in technology miniaturization holds great promise for improving public health, but portends a disruptive future ahead for the medical labs
Is the medical laboratory industry ready for a handheld device that can do immunoassay testing without requiring any stored energy? The secret of this device, already undergoing field trials in Rwanda, is that it uses a smartphone accessory, or “dongle,” to capture and transmit the results of the lab tests.
This innovative smartphone device accurately diagnoses HIV and syphilis with a finger prick of blood and displays the results on the smartphone screen within 15 minutes, according to a Columbia Engineering News Service report.
An Ideal Device for Field Work in Resource Poor Areas
It’s mobile and inexpensive, making it an ideal diagnostic tool for use in poor, remote regions of the world. According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, the highest percentages of all sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases occur in developing and underdeveloped nations. (more…)
Oct 2, 2015 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Innovative designs promote in vitro home-testing medical diagnostic devices that could impact the work done in clinical laboratories
With greater frequency, new diagnostic technologies make it possible to move medical laboratory tests out of the traditional central lab facility and closer to the patient—including patient home self-testing. Even as this happens, engineers and designers are delivering elegant, well-designed devices designed for use in clinical laboratories as well as in near-patient settings.
Evidence of this trend comes from the most recent winners in the annual contest known as the Medical Device Excellence Awards (MDEA). In this year’s contest, two of the products receiving awards were medical laboratory test devices that were deemed to be innovative solutions to improve the lab testing process.
This contest intends to “recognize significant advances in medical product design and engineering that improve the quality of healthcare delivery and accessibility.” The competition was first held in 1998 and is sometimes described as the “Oscars” of the medical device. Receiving an MDEA medal offers validation, publicity, and a host of other benefits. (more…)
Sep 30, 2015 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Utilization management of clinical laboratory testing is a big trend in laboratory medicine at the moment as innovative labs strive to add more value
DATELINE: DENVER, COLORADO—Interest in improving the utilization of clinical laboratory tests is at an all-time high among medical laboratories throughout the United States. Last week a national gathering of pathologists and laboratory professionals gathered in the Mile High City to share success stories and identify the best approaches to helping physicians better utilize lab tests.
This one-day conference on laboratory test utilization was organized by Mayo Medical Laboratories and the Mayo Clinic as part of its 27th Annual Conference on Laboratory Outreach. The keynote speaker was Michael G. Rock, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Mayo Clinic Hospitals/Mayo Foundation and an at-large member of the Board of Trustees of the American Hospital Association (AHA) and its Executive Committee.
Analysis of Key Trends in Healthcare
In recent years, Rock has been involved at the highest levels of healthcare strategy development, both at the Mayo Clinic and with several national hospital associations, including the American Hospital Association. He provided attendees at this conference with a razor-sharp analysis of key trends in healthcare. Rock then identified and explained the essential steps that innovative hospitals and health systems are taking to reshape their organization in order to provide the range of clinical services needed to support integrated healthcare and personalized medicine. (more…)
Sep 23, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Antibody validation standards would help ensure reproducibility of research studies and improve the consistency medical laboratory test results
As science and industry gets better at measuring things and assessing quality, the acceptable standard often comes into question. This seems to be happening with antibodies, the most common reagents used in diagnostics, clinical laboratory diagnostic tests, and medical research. In many cases, the end result is that companies and their suppliers must use new technologies and quality methods to revise the “old way” and create products that have measurable better quality.
The techniques currently used to validate antibodies is the topic of a recently-published scientific paper. The authors of a paper published in the March, 2010, issue of Biotechniques pointed out, antibody validation and standardization ensure study reproducibility, which is critical to accuracy. And yet, no standard guidelines define how these important biological tools should be validated prior to use.
Thus, researchers participating in a recent webinar, presented by The Scientist expressed concern that—without improved antibody validation and standardization—the accuracy of published research is in question and diagnostic test results, such as those produced by medical laboratories, will continue to be inconsistent. (more…)
Sep 18, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University believe this technology could also be used to detect bacteria in food and water and to follow patients’ progress after leaving acute or outpatient care
New technology could shift the paradigm in infectious disease testing by clinical laboratories, while also giving hospitals a faster way to identify hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and monitor patients for infections post-discharge. The diagnostic technology is built into a special “biosensing film” made of cellulose paper and a flexible polymer.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) developed the biosensing film. They say it can detect and discern HIV, Staphylococcus aureus, E-coli and other bacteria in blood, plasma, and saliva. The test is inexpensive, disposable, and portable. Best of all (at least for developing countries, remote locations, and places that have few resources), it requires no expensive infrastructure or a clinical laboratory.
And yes, the biosensing film is designed to work in tandem with a smartphone app. But in this case, the mobile app is only part of the story. The real genius is the piece of lightweight, flexible, “electronic paper” or “biosensing film” used with the app. The film acts as a platform that detects infections, both viral and bacterial.
The story of this inventive biosensing film is detailed in a Scientific Reports article in the March 5, 2015, edition of Nature. (more…)
Sep 11, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups could face payment delays if physicians fail to code lab test claims properly using ICD-10 codes
Just weeks remain before the implementation to ICD-10 begins. This will be a delicate time for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, since labs must rely on physicians to provide accurate ICD codes that labs must submit on test claims in order to be reimbursed by payers.
The much-delayed shift from ICD-9 to ICD-10 diagnosis codes will take place on Thursday, Oct. 1. When clocks strike midnight, years of debate over whether the conversion will create a financial hardship on physicians—and in turn disrupt payments to clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups—will begin to be answered.
The Medicare program requires appropriate ICD codes on medical laboratory test claims for Medicare patients. That is one reason why clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology are financially vested in a smooth conversion process. All Medicare Part B claims for medical laboratory tests must be submitted with an appropriate International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code provided by the physician who ordered the lab tests. The Medicare program will not reimburse lab test claims without an appropriate ICD code. (more…)
