May 19, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Researchers in Finland have discovered four biomarkers in blood that appear to accurately identify individuals at high-risk of death in the short term
Will there be demand for a medical laboratory test that can help pathologists accurately predict the probability of death within five years for an individual? New research emerging from Europe suggests that such a diagnostic assay may be feasible.
More remarkable, this clinical laboratory test may be as simple as testing for the concentration of four biomarkers in blood. In combination, these biomarkers indicate the status of metabolism in all humans that can possibly predict when an individual will die. According to researchers, their relative amounts are crucial to determining if an individual is at high risk for death within five years. (more…)
May 16, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Violence by patients against physicians in China is a reminder to pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals about the importance of gaining patient trust in local medical laboratory test providers too
Medical errors, inaccurate diagnoses, and poor clinical care by clinicians in China are believed to be the primary reasons why a growing number of Chinese patients are physically attacking their doctors. Hospitals in China are beefing up security to protect physicians from what are often violent attacks.
This trend is a reminder to pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals in the United States and other developed nations of how essential it is maintain patients’ complete confidence and trust in their caregivers. That trust is anchored in accurate medical laboratory testing, precise diagnosis, and high-quality clinical care that is appropriate to a patient’s disease or health problem.
More Chinese Patients Turn Violent on Physicians and Caregivers
What makes this trend particularly noteworthy is that Chinese people are often viewed as patient and obedient. Now, however, when it comes to their healthcare, a growing number of Chinese patients are not patently compliant or meek. Over the last decade, disgruntled patients or family members have turned the nation’s hospitals into scary places for doctors and nurses to work. That’s because violent attacks on caregivers are increasing at an alarming rate.
China’s 1,000 top hospitals have seen a rise in “disputes escalating into violence, as well as random attacks,” stated Sun Haibo, Department Chief at China’s Ministry of Public Security’s Public Security Management Bureau in Bejing, in a recent report published by Bloomberg Businessweek. (more…)
May 14, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
More precise diagnoses will encourage pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals to consider using exome sequencing for clinical diagnostic purposes
Having sequenced the exomes of 150 patients to diagnose unknown disorders over the past year, physicians at Columbia University (CU) used that information to make decisive diagnoses in one-third of the cases. It is evidence from one of the nation’s pioneering gene-sequencing programs that such data can improve how physicians identify disease.
Findings from Exome Sequencing Program Noteworthy for Pathologists
Pathologists will find it noteworthy that some of the patients in the exome-sequencing program had been tracked for years at CU without a definitive diagnosis. This is why clinicians at the academic center in New York City see value in exome sequencing for selected patients.
For more than a year, doctors at Columbia University have tested the exome’s capability to provide a correct diagnosis for patients with suspected genetic disorders of unknown origins. The primary goal of the program is to prove that sequencing the exomes of these patients is both clinically useful and cost effective in guiding physicians to a correct diagnosis. (more…)
May 12, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
National survey of 1,768 family practice and internal medicine specialists determines that they are struggling to stay current with changing guidelines for ordering and interpreting medical laboratory tests
Recent publication of a new study confirms what pathologists and medical laboratory professionals have known for years: a significant number of primary care physicians acknowledge that they sometimes are uncertain about which clinical laboratory test is the most appropriate one to order. These same doctors also admit that they are often also uncertain how to interpret the results of some medical laboratory tests.
Physicians Uncertain when Ordering Clinical Laboratory Tests
These are two conclusions resulting from a survey published in the March-April edition of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (JABFM). It is important that clinical laboratory administrators and pathologists understand the survey findings for two important reasons.
(more…)
May 7, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Management & Operations
Prenatal testing, the most popular in China, is banned, affecting current projects at providers—another lesson for laboratories in how quickly things change
Genetic testing has been halted in China. This unexpected decree was announced in February. Government officials cited challenges surrounding “ethics, privacy, and the protection of human heredity resources, in a message posted on the China Food and Drug Administration’s website.
Authorities named prenatal DNA tests in particular as an area of concern in genetic testing. This may surprise pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals, who have regularly read about the substantial investments major Chinese companies have made in the field of gene sequencing. (more…)
May 2, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups are scrambling to respond as healthcare evolves into new models of integrated clinical care and payers seek to reduce reimbursement for clinical lab tests
NEW ORLEANS, LA.—There was more bad news than good news for the 800 clinical laboratory professionals and pathologists who assembled this week in “The Big Easy” to discuss and debate the serious financial and clinical challenges now weighing down the entire profession of laboratory medicine in the United States.
Probably the most unwelcome news delivered to attendees at the 19th Annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, was the contents of the new law titled the “Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014” (PAMA). This was the legislation passed by Congress to patch the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula for one more year. It was signed into law by President Obama on April 1, 2014. (more…)
