May 10, 2013 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Today, cheap and accurate mechanical pipettes are used by clinical pathology laboratories, although mouth pipetting, a dangerous medical lab practice, is still used in developing nations
Mouth pipetting was the topic of a recent blog published by Body Horrors. The blogger recalled a time when clinical laboratory professionals routinely mouth pipetted specimens.
Mouth pipetting is the practice of using one’s mouth to suck a desired volume of a medical laboratory specimen–blood, urine, cell cultures and other microbial stews–into an open-ended tube, using the reduced air pressure created by sucking to hold the specimen in place while moving it to another vessel. (more…)
May 8, 2013 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
With healthcare reform likely to limit their growth, health insurers are expanding into data management to create new revenue streams
Faced with swift changes in healthcare, many of which are not favorable to the traditional business model of private health insurers, the nation’s largest payers are positioning themselves to be major players in the management of “big data.” That may have interesting implications for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, which typically generate large quantities of medical laboratory test data.
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Apr 19, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
CommonWell is the name of the new organization formed to create the interoperability that would enable universal access to each patient’s health care records
It was big news in the healthcare IT world when six major healthcare IT companies joined together on March 4 and announced a collaboration intended to develop electronic health record (EHR) systems that are interoperable. That is a goal that can come none too soon for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
The collaboration will take the form of an independent nonprofit organization to be called CommonWell Health Alliance. The six companies contributing to the formation of CommonWell are:
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Apr 12, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Study findings show that clinical labs and pathology groups have opportunity to add value for consumers who actively monitor their health information
There is the opportunity for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups to build closer relationships with consumers by improving the access consumers have to their medical laboratory test data. A majority of Americans are now tracking health indicators, according to a recently published study.
Americans are becoming more self-aware and are assuming responsibility for their own health status. Those are findings from a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Projects. This study found that more than two-thirds (69%) of U.S. adults track a health indicator for themselves or a loved one, which has changed their overall approach to health. (more…)
Apr 10, 2013 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Ongoing federal program to encourage providers to adopt EHRs is not without its critics who contend the market is dominated by nation’s biggest health IT companies
News reporters have finally begun to notice that it is boom time for vendors of electronic health record (EHR) systems. Over the past three years, revenue and profits have soared at the nation’s biggest health information companies.
Of course, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers had front row seats to watch these events as they unfolded in recent years. Since 2010, every clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology group has been working to interface their laboratory information systems (LIS) with the EHR systems of parent hospitals and client physicians. (more…)
