Dec 14, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Evolving imaging technology could begin to replace some traditional autopsy methodologies and encourage an increase in the number of autopsies performed
New imaging technology may give pathologists in the United Kingdom a new way to perform non-invasive autopsies. It is another example of how long-standing clinical practices can be transformed by the capabilities of newly developed technologies.
Leading experts within the field of post-mortem cross-sectional imaging in Britain have recommended that England’s National Health Service (NHS) introduce alternative techniques for performing non-invasive autopsies. A review of current procedures in the NHS system showed that alternative autopsy methodologies offer important advantages. In some circumstances, the non-invasive approach could replace traditional autopsy methods. (more…)
Dec 12, 2012 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations
Fully automated approach to medical laboratory testing emphasizes automated sample documentation
Pathologists and clinical laboratory administrators know that tracking individual tubes of patient specimens continues to be a huge challenge for medical laboratories. Now, researchers in Germany may be on the way to solving the problem with their invention of “smart” test tubes.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) in Saarland developed a test tube that interacts with a central control network, according to a press release. Their primary goal is to enable specimen data to be processed automatically, particularly with regard to documentation. (more…)
Dec 10, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists will welcome this law, which provides more latitude for federal regulators should a medical laboratory inadvertently refer a proficiency testing specimen
Last Tuesday, the clinical laboratory testing industry gained an important measure of regulatory relief after President Obama signed into law the Taking Essential Steps for Testing (TEST) Act of 2012. This law removes severe penalties for medical laboratories that inadvertently violate proficiency testing (PT) requirements.
More specifically, the language of the TEST Act provides guidance to federal regulators to resolve an issue concerning the inadvertent referral of PT specimens as defined by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) statute of 1988. (See The Dark Report “Congress May Respond to Tough CLIA PT Penalties,” August 6, 2012.) (more…)
Dec 5, 2012 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
To help improve the quality and accuracy of clinical pathology laboratory testing, many African nations are using ISO 15189 for laboratory accreditation
In many developing countries, both patients and medical laboratory professionals are making local headlines with their efforts to call attention the unacceptable number of errors made by clinical laboratories in their respective countries. This media scrutiny is a positive sign because problems must be recognized and acknowledged before they can be solved.
In recent weeks, Dark Daily published an ebriefing that described how pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals in Africa and the Caribbean were calling attention to unacceptably high rates of medical lab testing errors in their respective regions. (See Dark Daily: Public Outcry Over Inaccurate Medical Laboratory Test Results and Misdiagnoses Spurs Government Action in Developing Countries.)
The good news is that media reports about problems with medical laboratory testing quality in these developing countries have encouraged an organized international response. Medical laboratory professionals from developed nations are providing financing, equipment, onsite training and supervision specifically to raise the quality and accuracy of medical laboratory test results in many of these developing countries.
International collaborations aimed at building high-quality clinical laboratory services in developing countries are paying off. In some cases, this is directly related to the efforts of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and similar initiatives to improve the quality of clinical laboratory services in these resource-limited regions to support better disease detection and patient care. (more…)
Dec 3, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Innovative and inexpensive technologies hold the promise of instantaneous diagnosis while transforming conventional clinical laboratory tools
“Point-of-care pathology” may not be that far away! The convergence of medical and information technologies, the falling cost of computing, and the growing availability of miniaturization technologies make it increasingly possible for pathologists and physicians to make informed, on-the-spot diagnostic decisions about patient care.
A new wave of imaging technologies—including pathology tools—is poised to transform the practice of medicine, reported a recent story in the New York Times. Some of these technologies make it possible for pathologists and other physicians to view individual cells in situ and in vivo.
The NY Times story highlighted multiple research and development initiatives that have the same goal: reduce the time get an answer for tissue diagnosis and bring diagnostic tests to the patient. Some technologies would engage pathologists. Others reflect developments in radiology and imaging. (more…)
Nov 28, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
Unexpected opposition to EHR incentive program should be watched by pathologists and clinical laboratory managers
Questions about the value of the federal government’s program to encourage provider adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems were raised by Republican leaders in both houses of Congress just weeks before the election on November 6.
Because clinical laboratories and pathology groups have a big stake in interfacing their laboratory information systems to physicians’ EHRs, this new development bears watching.
In October, GOP Senators and House Republicans joined together and issued a call for an immediate halt to distribution of incentive payments to providers for implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems. This program is now in its second full year of implementation. (more…)
