Dec 28, 2011 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Veterans Administration calls it a “genomics game changer” and is now building a treasure trove of data for health researchers, including pathologists
Imagine a massive data repository that contains the blood specimens and genetic information of thousands of individuals, along with a detailed medical history for each patient that may reach back as far as 20 years! Such a data repository, long the dream of many pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists, will soon become a reality.
That’s because the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced what it calls the “Million Veteran Program” (MVP). It is actively recruiting one million veterans who are willing to provide a blood specimen. These specimens will become part of a database that contains the full electronic health records (EHR) of millions of veterans.
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Nov 30, 2011 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Because they provide medical lab test results to EHRs, clinical labs and pathologists are often named in medical malpractice lawsuits
Some experts predict that the great expansion in the number of physicians using electronic health record (EHR) systems may trigger an increase in medical malpractice lawsuits. Were this were to happen, clinical laboratories and pathology group practices might find themselves also named in such lawsuits because they provided the medical laboratory test results that populated the patient’s EHR.
Concern about an increase in medical malpractice claims surfaced in response to the speed at which the federal government is pushing physicians to implement and use electronic health record (EHR) systems as required under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For example, federal officials are directing hospitals to implement EHRs that fulfill the Act’s Meaningful Use (MU) requirements by 2012. (more…)
Jun 3, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Medical laboratories advised to regularly update capabilities in integrated health informatics
During this first year of federal incentives for adoption of electronic health records (EHR), large numbers of hospitals and office-based physicians are actively developing an informatics strategy for their organizations. As these providers acquire and deploy EHR systems, clinical laboratories and pathology groups will need to deliver a robust LIS-to-EMR interface that seamlessly handles medical laboratory test orders and lab test results reporting.
Yet, even as providers install new EHR systems, many enabling technologies in computer hardware, software, wireless, and mobile computing devices are gaining capabilities at a startling rate. “These rapid improvements in information technology create a new level of risk for those clinical laboratory administrators and pathologists who have responsibility for their medical laboratory’s information technology strategy, and the operating of their lab’s IT department,” stated Gai Elhanan, M.D., M.A., Chief Medical Information Officer at Halfpenny Technologies, Inc., based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.
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Apr 21, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists may be asked to do more consults by oncologists practicing in a medical home
Recently a pioneering oncology practice in Philadelphia was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a medical home practice. Though the NCQA medical home program focuses on primary care, a few specialty practices have gained medical home recognition.
This is a milestone on the road to expanded use of the medical home care model. It is also an early warning to pathologists and clinical laboratory managers that other medical specialties may take steps to implement a medical home practice. It is believed that physicians practicing in this care model are likely to be more careful users of medical laboratory tests.
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May 10, 2010 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Surge of requests for LIS-to-EMR interfaces will soon hit clinical pathology laboratories
EMR adoption by office-based physicians is about to seriously challenge the capability of the nation’s clinical pathology laboratories to quickly build interfaces with the electronic medical record (EMR) systems of their client doctors. That’s the prediction of one of the nation’s foremost experts on how to connect clinical pathology laboratories with physician EMRs.
“Today, only one of four physicians uses electronic medical records. To encourage more physicians to adopt medical record systems over the next five years, the ARRA stimulus package is offering major financial incentives,” observed Pat Wolfram, Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service at Ignis Systems Corporation in Portland, Oregon. “In fact, if the federal government achieves its goals as set forth in the current stimulus package, we can expect more than 300,000 physicians to adopt EMRs over the next five years!”
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