Jul 7, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
This investigation of the fruit fly’s transcriptome—the complete collection of the genome’s RNA—unearthed thousands of new genes, transcripts, and proteins
Scientists have teased another level of information out of the genome. This time, the new insights were developed from studies of the fruit fly’s transcriptome. This knowledge will give pathologists another channel of information that may be useful in developing assays to support more precise diagnosis and therapeutic decisions.
The findings were published in a recent issue of Nature. The study focused on the transcriptome—a complete collection of the genome’s RNA—of the common fruit fly−Drosophila melangogaster. (more…)
Jul 2, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Exogen uses crowdfunding to both collect needed specimens and raise capital to pursue FDA clearance for its proposed medical laboratory test that would identify an individual’s damaged DNA
It might be coming soon to a pharmacy or other retail store near you: a medical laboratory test kit allows consumers to test themselves for damaged DNA. This bold new world for genetic testing is the vision of a new company in San Francisco called Exogen Biotechnology.
This startup business was co-founded by Sylvain Costes, Ph.D., a nuclear engineer who serves as Exogen’s Chief Executive Officer, and Jonathan Tang, Ph.D., a bioengineer. Their team is developing a blood test that will enable consumers to monitor their own DNA damage and take actions to reverse the damage. (more…)
Jun 30, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
This joint research effort will initiate a new field of clinical laboratory diagnostic tests that target the human microbiome
Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is about to commence clinical trials utilizing innovative clinical laboratory tests that target the human microbiome. Women’s health is the initial focus for these clinical studies.
Mayo Clinic is collaborating with San Francisco-based Whole Biome, Inc., to conduct these clinical trials. Whole Biome developed the diagnostic tests to be used in the clinical study. (more…)
Jun 25, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Maricopa Integrated Health System reports that price transparency pays off by reducing uncompensated care and increasing business
Arizona has a new law that requires hospitals, medical laboratories, diagnostic imaging facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, and urgent-care centers to publish the prices they charge self-pay and uninsured patients for the 50 most common inpatient and outpatient services. The law took effect on January 1, 2014.
News accounts report that just one hospital took steps to publish its prices earlier this year. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will find the experience of Maricopa Integrated Health System to be instructive, as hospital administrators there publicly state that this was the right thing to do for patients in their community. (more…)
Jun 23, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, Uncategorized
Leadership and the medical laboratory team at this Indianapolis, Indiana-based specialty hospital implemented a clinical intelligence system delivered via the cloud
Does clinical use of a business intelligence (BI) system give hospitals and their clinical laboratories a way to add more value to physicians and contribute to improved outcomes? If you ask the clinical laboratory team and leadership at one specialty hospital in the Midwest, their answer is a resounding “yes!”
St. Vincent Seton Specialty Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, was an early adopter of business intelligence at the time it acquired a clinical intelligence system in late 2012. Due to the acuity and patient length-of-stay at this hospital, leadership wanted to do something different and innovative that would contribute to measurable and significant improvement in patient outcomes. (more…)
Jun 20, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
One problem for physicians is that many EHR products that earned Meaningful Use Stage 1 certification have not gained Stage 2 certification
Growing numbers of physicians are deciding that continuing in the federal government’s electronic health records (EHRs) incentive program is not a winning proposition. This is not an auspicious development for the nation’s clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
After all, every medical laboratory in the United States is spending time and money to interface their laboratory information systems with physician clients’ EHR systems to enable electronic lab test ordering and reporting. Thus, if substantial numbers of physicians decide to opt out the federal EHR incentive program, this will create a variety of problems for clinical laboratories providing lab-testing services to these physicians. (more…)
