Jul 24, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
AACC’s annual meeting still offers impressive array of scientific sessions and exhibits
Yesterday ended the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) in Chicago, Illinois. Your Dark Daily team was there to ferret out anything new and interesting and to sniff out the latest trends in the business of laboratory testing.
As expected, this year’s event was considerably subdued. Attendance was clearly down, even though the exhibition hall featured more than 650 exhibitors—a number comparable to last year. But the exuberance of recent years was gone. For example, AACC did not make a public address announcement in the exhibit hall to announce the total number of attendees this year and thank everyone—at least not when your Dark Daily editor was in the exhibit hall. Speculation was that this year’s total attendance was down from the 20,000+ attendees in each of recent years. Estimates were that the attendance decline ranged from 20% to 30% fewer attendees.
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Jul 23, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Across the country, many hospital laboratory outreach programs continue to grow and prosper, despite a sour economy and higher rates of unemployment. That’s true in Chicago’s northern suburb of Evanston, Illinois, where the laboratory outreach program of Evanston Hospital enjoys solid rates of growth in specimen volume and revenue.
This week, Dark Daily visited Evanston Hospital and spent time with Thomas A.Victor, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and his laboratory team. Evanston Hospital is the anchor facility for Northshore University Healthsystem, which includes Glenbrook Hospital, Highland Park Hospital, and Skokie Hospital. These four hospitals total 1,043 beds. Northshore is affiliated with the University of Chicago School of Medicine.
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Jul 13, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Ex-Senate Majority Leader Predicts Democrats Will Aggressively Push Reform
In recent weeks, laboratory professionals got a ringside seat to hear a true Washington insider discuss key issues in healthcare reform. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, told lab industry executives and pathologists that Congress faces three significant hurdles as it attempts to reform the healthcare system. The first—and perhaps most significant—hurdle involves costs, he said. Daschle is currently a Senior Policy Advisor at Alston and Bird, a law firm in Washington, D.C.
“Cost is a huge political factor,” stated Daschle during a recent audio conference conducted by the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) on June 24. “Of all of the factors, cost is driving this debate as much if not more than any [other single factor]. We are looking at an investment cost of about $1 trillion to put this new infrastructure in place and that is an issue of great concern.” Daschle explained that the other two hurdles are quality of care and access to healthcare.
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Jul 8, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical labs continue see higher-than-normal flu activity in what is typically the off-season
New cases of A/novel H1N1 continue to show up in the United States and worldwide. It means that influenza activity at clinical laboratories is higher than normal for this time of year. These continuing influenza cases affirm why public health officials expect a busy flu season this fall and winter.
In fact, data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that overall influenza activity decreased in the United States in recent weeks compared to late April and early May. At the same time, the novel A/H1N1 flu has spawned a second flu season this year, extending into the summer months of 2009.
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Jun 23, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Acquisition adds more companion diagnostics to LabCorp’s molecular test menu
Here’s another validation of the prediction that companion diagnostics will be a cornerstone of personalized medicine. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) of Burlington, North Carolina, said Tuesday (June 23) it would acquire Monogram Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGRM) of South San Francisco, California. In an all cash deal totaling $106.7 million, LabCorp will pay $4.55 per share.
“Monogram Biosciences, Inc., has an excellent clinical reputation, a market leading infectious disease test, a market leading companion diagnostic, an exciting technology platform for oncology, and offers LabCorp a substantial growth opportunity,” said David P. King, LabCorp’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
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