Apr 18, 2016 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Human genome pioneer J. Craig Venter’s newest project seeks to ‘change the way medicine is practiced’ by creating genomic-based medicine model
With little fanfare or public notice, a start-up company in San Diego is busy sequencing the largest number of whole human genome sequences in the world. The knowledge expected to result from this effort promises to revolutionize healthcare, as well as clinical laboratory testing.
Human Longevity Inc. (HLI) is a genomics and cell therapy company that has assembled the largest human genome sequencing operation in the world. It’s goal is to use whole genome sequencing and cell-based therapeutics to redefine aging and “meaningfully extend the human lifespan.”
“HLI’s mission is to identify the therapeutically targetable mechanisms responsible for age-related human biological decline, and to apply this intelligence to develop innovative solutions to interrupt or block these processes, meaningfully extending the human lifespan,” HLI states on its website. “We are trying to tackle some of the most vexing diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes … we are working to change the way medicine is practiced through our genomic-focused, preventive model.” (more…)
Feb 19, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Panel of webinar speakers included several physicians, a pathologist, and a director from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Patient safety continues to be a major factor in the ongoing transformation of healthcare in the United States. As it does, more scrutiny is being given to how medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups can contribute to improving patient safety.
One example of the heightened scrutiny of patient safety as it relates to clinical laboratory testing services was a recent webinar at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the online healthcare site, Stat. Titled “Medical Tests: Inaccuracies, Risks and the Public’s Health,” this webinar featured nationally-known healthcare experts and policy makers.
Issues of patient safety associated with medical laboratories was a major topic during this webinar, including discussion about concerns associated with the clinical use of laboratory-developed tests. (more…)
Dec 30, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
The VirScan test gives doctors insight into a patient’s lifetime exposure to viruses and thus may be developed into a useful medical laboratory test
Scientists and pathologists are learning that blood is like a time capsule, holding precious information about exposure to viruses over the years—chickenpox at five, mononucleosis at 18, flu at 40. You get the idea.
Now, researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) have found a way to tap that entire data stream, so to speak. An inexpensive blood test, they say, reveals every virus that has passed through the body over time.
New Discoveries Could Lead to a Useful Clinical Laboratory Test
The testing method, called VirScan by researchers, is an efficient alternative to current medical laboratory tests that test for specific viruses one at a time, according to an HHMI news statement about the new technology. (more…)
Dec 16, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, Uncategorized
Transition to value-based reimbursement tops Insigniam’s list of factors altering healthcare landscape
Management consulting firm Insigniam recently identified “10 Disruptive Forces in Healthcare”. Several of these development create significant implications for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups that are navigating today’s rapidly-changing healthcare landscape.
ACA and Aging Population Reshaping Healthcare
“I have been doing healthcare for 33 years at this point. And there has been more change in the last three [years] than at any time, and it’s by a long shot,” declared Donald Casey, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Segment of Cardinal Health in Ohio. He was quoted by Insigniam Quarterly.
Donald Casey, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Segment of Ohio-based Cardinal Health, has firsthand experience responding to the fundamental changes taking place in healthcare today. Casey points to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and an aging population as the two drivers behind what is a fundamental reshaping of American healthcare. (Photo copyright: Cardinal Health.)
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Nov 20, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Ohio State University study shows correlation between genetic variability among cancer cells within tumors and the survival of patients with head-and-neck cancers
Anatomic pathologists and clinical laboratories may gain a tool to identify tumor heterogeneity. This would enable them to ultimately guide personalized cancer therapies if a new method for measuring genetic variability within a tumor and predicting outcomes is confirmed in future studies.
Scientists Seek Cause of Resistance to Cancer Treatment
The new tool was dubbed “MATH” by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James). MATH is the scoring method they developed and stands for mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity. MATH was used to measure the genetic variability among cancer cells within tumors from 305 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), treated at multiple institutions, from The Cancer Genome Atlas.
In announcing the study results, OSUCCC-James stated that cancers that showed high genetic variability— called “intra-tumor heterogeneity”—correlated with lower patient survival.
James Rocco, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and his colleagues, used MATH values “to document a relation between intra-tumor heterogeneity and overall survival in any type of cancer.” (more…)
