Oct 26, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
New mHealth devices open the door for clinical laboratories and pathologists to offer continuous monitoring services to patients which incorporate the patient’s self-test results with that patient’s cumulative medical lab test data
In today’s age of mobile computing, healthcare applications are hot. Now comes news that a Swiss company has launched what it calls the world’s first medical smartphone! Of note to clinical laboratory managers and pathologists is the fact that this medical smartphone is designed to capture and analyze several health measures that are often the subject of medical laboratory clinical laboratory tests, including blood gases and blood glucose.
This medical smartphone is manufactured by LifeWatch AG (LIFE:SW), based in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland. The LifeWatch V lets users self-test their health.
“The…smartphone allows [users] to self-operate a wide range of highly valuable embedded medical sensors, wellness-related applications, cloud-based services, and 24/7 call center support,” the company stated in a news release. The device operates on an Android operating system. (more…)
Oct 24, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory directors can learn from other industries about how to better achieve quality and cost goals
Why are pathology groups, clinical laboratories, and the majority of healthcare providers so slow to borrow innovative approaches from commercial businesses that measurably improve patient service, quality, and satisfaction? No less an authority than, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has taken the entire healthcare system to task for being so slow to adopt proven innovations that are being rapidly taken up by non-healthcare industries.
These findings were published in a report recently issued by the Institute of Medicine. Authors of the report found that when it comes to quality, outcomes, cost, and equity, healthcare falls short when compared to other industries. (more…)
Oct 23, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
CRM is a new product category for medical laboratory middleware and delivers real-time dashboards that drive higher levels of lab performance and client service
Within the clinical laboratory industry, there’s an interesting conjunction of two fast-moving trends. One trend is the growing use of middleware by medical laboratories of all sizes. The second trend is the goal of converting any type of manual work process in the lab into an automated work process.
These trends often intersect when clinical laboratories and pathology groups use middleware to automate manual processes. One common example is when a lab purchases a middleware solution that handles auto-validation. After implementation, auto-validation eliminates the need for medical technologists to manually review all the individual test results. (more…)
Oct 22, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers may see an explosion of new diagnostic tests in the wake of ENCODE’s discoveries
You know it’s big news when multiple scientific journals publish numerous papers on the same day, covering the same genetic research topic. That is why pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals will want to learn more about “ENCODE,” the global research initiative that is the source of almost 40 published papers during recent weeks.
Of equal importance, this is basic science that is unlocking knowledge of human DNA that is expected to drive an entire new field of medical diagnostics. In turn, the host of new medical laboratory tests based on ENCODE’s new scientific findings will create additional opportunities for the nation’s clinical laboratories to deliver more value to physicians and patients. (more…)
Oct 17, 2012 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing
By purchasing this laboratory outreach business, Quest Diagnostics defends its turf in central Massachusetts and creates opportunity to consolidate testing from three medical lab facilities
Late yesterday, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) formally announced that had signed a “definitive agreement today to purchase the clinical laboratory outreach business of UMass Memorial Medical Center.” The laboratory is located in Worcester, Massachusetts and the parties expect the transaction to close within 90 days.
For UMass, the sale of its medical laboratory outreach business comes as part of an ongoing effort by UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC)—the parent health system—to divest a number of service lines that were in its health ventures division. This included home health and hospice services, along with the medical lab outreach business. (more…)
Oct 5, 2012 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Positioning itself to serve accountable care organizations, McKesson agrees to buy a company specializing in medical billing and physician practice management
McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) announced an agreement to acquire MED3000 of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earlier this week. One aspect of this transaction will be of particular interest to anatomic pathologists and pathology practice administrators.
When it closes the sale, McKesson’s ownership of MED3000 will increase its overall national market share of pathology billing and collection contracts. Dark Daily readers may recall that McKesson and MED3000 each have a sizeable number of anatomic pathology laboratories and groups as clients for their billing and collections business divisions. (more…)
