News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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Johns Hopkins Research Team Uses Machine Learning on DNA “Dark Matter” in Blood to Identify Cancer

Findings could lead to new biomarkers clinical laboratories would use for identifying cancer in patients and monitoring treatments As DNA “dark matter” (the DNA sequences between genes) continues to be studied, researchers are learning that so-called “junk DNA”...

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University of Ghent Belgium Research Team Finds Stool Transplants Improve Motor Symptoms in Early-stage Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Findings could lead to clinical laboratory tests that help physicians identify microbes lacking in the microbiomes of their Parkinson patients Microbiologists and clinical laboratory scientists know that gut microbiome can be involved in the development of Parkinson’s...

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Patient Rights Group Says Too Many Hospitals Are Not Complying with CMS Price Transparency Rules

Only about a third of the hospitals surveyed are in full compliance with giving public access to prices, the watchdog group contends, but the AHA disputes its methodology It’s been almost four years since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) enacted...

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Clinical Trial Shows New Laboratory Developed Blood Test 83% Effective at Detecting Colorectal Cancer

Accurate blood-based clinical laboratory testing for cancer promises to encourage more people to undergo early screening for deadly diseases One holy grail in diagnostics is to develop less-invasive specimen types when screening or testing for different cancers. This...

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New Zealand Blood Service Workers and Junior Doctors Hit the Picket Line Once Again to Fight against Pay Disparities and Poor Working Conditions

As before, the ongoing strikes continue to cause delays in critical clinical laboratory blood testing and surgical procedures After seven months of failed negotiations, New Zealand’s blood workers, clinical laboratory technicians, and medical scientists, are once...

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UK’s National Health Service Tests AI Tool That Can Spot Cancer in Mammograms Missed by Doctors

This AI platform has the potential to also reduce workload of radiologists, but also of anatomic pathologists and oncologists allowing them to be more productive When the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) recently tested an artificial intelligence (AI) platform’s...

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Ex-Theranos Founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes Reduced Her Prison Sentence by Nearly Two Years

Good behavior in federal prison by the disgraced founder of the now-defunct clinical laboratory company earned her the reduction in her original sentence of 11 years Elizabeth Holmes, founder of failed clinical laboratory blood analysis company Theranos, continues to...

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University of Warwick Researchers Identity Blood Protein Biomarkers That Can Predict Dementia Onset Years in Advance

With further study, this research may provide clinical laboratories with a new proteomic biomarker for dementia screenings that identifies risk more than 10 years before symptoms appear Researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK and Fudan University in...

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University of Pittsburgh Pathologists Create World Tumor Registry to Assist Medical Professionals in the Identification and Diagnosis of Cancers

As the cancer registry expands it will increasing become more useful to anatomic pathologists, histopathologists, oncologists, and even clinical laboratories Oncologists, histopathologists, anatomic pathologists, and other cancer physicians now have a powerful new...

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NIH Scientists Develop New Clinical Laboratory Assay to Measure Effectiveness of ‘Good’ Cholesterol

Clinical studies show that new ‘cell-free’ test can predict cardiovascular disease risk better than standard HDL cholesterol test Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a diagnostic assay that measures how well high-density lipoprotein...

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Washington University School of Medicine Researchers Find Accelerated Aging May be Contributing to an Increase in Early-onset Cancers among Young People

More research into accelerated aging may lead to new clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology testing biomarkers for early-onset cancer Could accelerated aging be contributing to the rise in early-onset cancer rates among younger individuals? A recent study...

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Measles Cases in the US, Europe, and Other Countries are Increasing, Slowing Progress on Efforts to Eliminate the Disease

Clinical laboratory managers should prepare for an increase in demand for measles testing, especially for children Clinical laboratory managers should be on the alert for new cases of measles. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported a...

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CVS Health is Changing the Way it Prices Prescription Drugs Using a New Cost-Plus Model

New ‘simple’ pricing scheme will provide transparency and value to all stakeholders, says company’s Chief Pharmacy Officer Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) is planning to scrap what it says is an old-school prescription reimbursement model and turn to a...

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American Cancer Society Annual Report Shows Cervical Cancer Rate Increasing, but Only among 30- to 40-Year-Olds

Lack of regular clinical laboratory screenings in this age group at least partially to blame, researchers say While cervical cancer rates have seen a 50-year decline overall, that trend is shifting among 30- to 40 year-olds who have experienced a near 2% increase from...

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Boston Children’s Hospital Hires a Prompt Engineer to Help the Healthcare Organization Deploy and Use Artificial Intelligence Applications

This may be a new ‘sign of the times’ as hospitals, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare providers working with AI find they also need to hire their own prompt engineers Boston Children’s Hospital last year hired a “prompt engineer” to propel the hospital...

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Wiley Launches Paper Mill Detection Tool after Losing Millions Due to Fraudulent Journal Submissions

Groups representing academic publishers are taking steps to combat paper mills that write the papers and then sell authorship spots Clinical laboratory professionals rely on peer-reviewed research to keep up with the latest findings in pathology, laboratory medicine,...

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Laboratory Leaders at 2024 Annual Executive War College Discuss Critical Challenges Facing Clinical Laboratory and Pathology Managers for 2024 and Beyond

Trifecta of forces at work that will affect the clinical laboratory and pathology industries have been described as a ‘perfect storm’ requiring lab and practice managers to be well informed Digital pathology, artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, and the perfect...

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Big Industry Changes in Focus at the Annual Executive War College

FDA announces final rule on Lab-Developed Tests LDTs) as Clinical Lab Leaders Meet in New Orleans Regulatory changes were the talk of the 29th Annual Executive War College, with attendees buzzing about Monday’s  US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement that...

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From Regulations to Innovations: Annual Executive War College Convenes in New Orleans

29th Conference Features Information on What Clinical Lab Leaders Need to Know About a 'Perfect Storm' of New Compliance Challenges There are signs that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to release the final rule on laboratory developed tests...

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Pet Owner Sends Her Own Cheek Swab Samples to a Pet DNA Testing Laboratory and Gets a Report That She is Part Border Collie and Bulldog

In a follow-up story, investigative news team in Boston sends a reporter’s cheek swab sample to the same pet DNA testing lab: report states the reporter is part Malamute, Shar Pei, and Labrador Retriever One pet DNA testing company returned results from human cheek...

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Artificial Intelligence in the Operating Room: Dutch Scientists Develop AI Application That Informs Surgical Decision Making during Cancer Surgery

Speedy DNA sequencing and on-the-spot digital imaging may change the future of anatomic pathology procedures during surgery Researchers at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) at UMC Utrecht, a leading international university medical center in the Netherlands,...

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Preparing for Z-Codes as DEX Genetic Testing Registry Rolls Out to Commercial Health Plans

Palmetto GBA’s Chief Medical Officer will cover how clinical laboratories billing for genetic testing should prepare for Z-Codes at the upcoming Executive War College in New Orleans After multiple delays, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) commercial plans will soon require...

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Mount Sinai Researchers Create a “Smart Tweezer” That Can Isolate a Single Bacterium from a Microbiome Sample Prior to Genetic Sequencing

New technology could enable genetic scientists to identify antibiotic resistant genes and help physicians choose better treatments for genetic diseases Genomic scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City have developed...

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Former FDA Director to Speak at Executive War College on FDA’s Coming Regulation of Laboratory Developed Tests

Tim Stenzel, MD, PhD, will discuss what clinical laboratories need to know about the draft LDT rule, FDA memo on assay reclassification, and ISO-13485 harmonization Many clinical laboratories anxiously await a final rule from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...

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