Jun 6, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical pathology laboratory testing played a role in reducing rate of ICU infections
Here’s a big win for improved patient outcomes, and clinical labs and pathologists played a significant role in this achievement. Central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) in ICUs decreased in number by a whopping 58% from 2001 to 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some healthcare experts attribute this significant reduction in ICU infections to greater transparency in outcomes data. The CDC’s report, released on March 1, 2011, covered the period from 2001 through 2009. The CDC said that, in 2001, 43,000 ICU patients experienced what today is called a hospital acquired infection (HAI). But by 2009, that number had dropped to 18,000!
The CDC calculates that, thanks to hospital diligence and participation in programs designed to reduce HAIs, at least $1.8 billion and 27,000 lives were saved between 2001 and 2009. However, the CDC noted that other areas of healthcare did not show similar improvements in patient outcomes. (more…)
Nov 15, 2010 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Professor Peter Sasieni says women vaccinated for HPV may only need two cervical cancer screening tests during their lifetime
Here’s a spicy new subject for debate among pathologists and women’s health specialists. Would it be safe for a woman who has been vaccinated for HPV (human papillomavirus) to get just two cervical cancer screening tests in her lifetime—one at age 30 and the other at age 45? A prominent professor in the United Kingdom recently advocated just such a medical laboratory testing protocol.
Earlier this month, at the United Kingdom’s National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool, England, Professor Peter Sasieni made a presentation about HPV vaccinations and cervical cancer screening that generated press headlines throughout the United Kingdom. Sasieni believes enough progress has been made in vaccinating young women for HPV in the U.K. that it would be clinically appropriate to change the current guidelines for cervical cancer screening.
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Nov 11, 2010 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Second-opinion consults will be handled by UPMC’s sub-specialist pathologists
Here’s a unique anatomic pathology collaboration that crosses international borders and will utilize state-of-the-art digital pathology technology to support subspecialty pathologist consultations between the United States and China.
In recent weeks, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) disclosed that it will provide a range of healthcare services to what is only described as “the largest pathology laboratory in Shanghai.” Of particular interest to pathologists and clinical laboratory managers in the United States, is the fact that pathologists at UPMC will provide second opinion anatomic pathology services to this as-yet-unnamed Chinese pathology laboratory.
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Oct 29, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Trend may affect workforce needs of clinical pathology laboratories, according to JAMA study
Doctors now work fewer hours than lawyers! This finding has serious implications for the healthcare industry in coming years. Clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups will want to understand how this trend might affect their service relationships with physicians.
Researchers determined that—for the first time—doctors are working fewer hours than lawyers. They predict this trend could lead to doctor shortages as more and more baby boomer physicians retire. This study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
In an interview with a U.S. News and World Report reporter, the study’s lead author, Douglas Staiger, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire stated, “This is an unprecedented decline that we haven’t seen before in physicians, and you don’t see it for other professions, like lawyers.”
Three Decades of Census Data on Doctors’ Work Hours
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Oct 27, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Findings came after OIG audited the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Databank
Adverse actions taken by federal healthcare regulators against clinical pathology laboratories and other healthcare providers have not been reported to a public database as required by law. That is the finding of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), based on its study of the information contained in the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB).
During its audit of the HIPDB, the OIG determined that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) failed to report disciplinary actions it took against medical laboratories and other providers to the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB). According to the OIG’s recently-released report, CMS’s Division of Laboratory Services was responsible for many of the omissions.
Clinical Laboratory Actions Should Be Listed in the HIPDB
The HIPDB is a national database of adverse actions taken by federal agencies against “healthcare practitioners, providers and suppliers,” who are defined in the OIG report as medical doctors, laboratories, clinics, nursing homes, managed care facilities, prescription drug plans and durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers.
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