Aug 1, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Among the hundreds of lab industry vendors exhibiting, there were more companies showing LIS and lab informatics products this year than last year
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—Anytime 20,000 clinical chemists and medical laboratory scientists gather in the same place, at the same time, there is sure to be many different opinions about the state of laboratory medicine and key trends in the clinical laboratory testing marketplace.
That was certainly true of this year’s annual meetings of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Scientists (ASCLS) that took place here in the Windy City and ended yesterday. Your Dark Daily editor was in attendance and saw many interesting things during the exhibition, which opened on Tuesday and closed Thursday.
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Jun 20, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
One problem for physicians is that many EHR products that earned Meaningful Use Stage 1 certification have not gained Stage 2 certification
Growing numbers of physicians are deciding that continuing in the federal government’s electronic health records (EHRs) incentive program is not a winning proposition. This is not an auspicious development for the nation’s clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
After all, every medical laboratory in the United States is spending time and money to interface their laboratory information systems with physician clients’ EHR systems to enable electronic lab test ordering and reporting. Thus, if substantial numbers of physicians decide to opt out the federal EHR incentive program, this will create a variety of problems for clinical laboratories providing lab-testing services to these physicians. (more…)
Mar 28, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
In particular, medical laboratories and pathology groups should be doing better at using information technology to meet the needs of consumers and to support physician workflow
Improving patient-provider communication and speeding clinician workflow are two of the top 2014 game changers in healthcare information technology (HIT) cited by a recent report. Each of these top 2014 game changers can be expected to change how patients and physicians interact with their clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology providers.
The report was published by Becker’s Hospital Review. Of the top 10 2014 HIT game changers, Dark Daily considered the two mentioned as the most notable for medical laboratory managers and pathologists. (more…)
Apr 18, 2012 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Actions by major insurers indicate that ACOs operated by hospitals will have competition
Until recently, most media coverage about nascent accountable care organizations (ACOs) centered on the plans of major hospitals and health systems to organize ACOs within their communities. Now comes news that major health insurers are making sizeable investments as they prepare to launch their own ACOs.
These developments could be auspicious for local clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. It could mean that in many regions around the United States there will be ACOs operated by hospitals/health systems that compete against ACOs operated by health insurance companies. In turn, that would mean more customers for lab testing services in these cities and towns.
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May 27, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Mobile health devices can allow physicians to consult with pathologists in real time
Mobile-health technology (mHealth) is the hot ticket with physicians. The advent of mobile computing, smartphones, and iPad-types of devices are fueling a strong demand by physicians for mobile apps that can help them receive alerts, stay informed of patient progress, access lab test results, and contact patients.
This is a swift-moving trend and clinical laboratory managers will want to develop information technology (IT) strategies to serve this keen interest by physicians to use their mobile-health devices to order medical laboratory tests and receive laboratory test results.
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