Jun 12, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Pathology
Noted pathologist encourages pathology profession to step up and assert leadership in clinical diagnostics as it enters the era of genomics-based medicine
Pathologists, embrace molecular testing or become irrelevant. In essence, that’s the message from pathology maven George D. Lundberg, M.D..
Lundberg is well known to pathologists in America. A board-certified pathologist himself, Lundberg served 17 years as Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). He continues to write and blog for a variety of healthcare publications and Web sites.
That means Lundberg has watched the evolution of medicine from a unique perspective for an extended period of time. The fact that he recently issued a clear and unambiguous call to action for the pathology profession means that pathologists and clinical laboratory managers should take heed. (more…)
Feb 8, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers should fundamentally change how cancer specimens are handled
Three physicians at Scripps Health are calling for pathologists to rethink how they collect and store cancer tissue samples in two significant ways. They say that pathologists need to: 1) move away from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks and toward frozen samples; and, 2) start collecting larger samples.
These doctors used the Journal of the American Medical Association as a platform to issue their call for a change in what has been a long-standing standard of practice in anatomic pathology. Given the progressive nature of these opinions, there will certainly be dissenting voices within the pathology profession who are likely to add their voices to this debate.
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Jan 23, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Computer diagnostics could offer opportunity for pathologists and clinical laboratory managers to add value to clinicians in diagnosing diseases
Efforts are intensifying to develop computer software that successfully emulates the skills of highly proficient diagnosticians. The motivation is increased pressure to reduce medical errors, including misdiagnosis. This is welcome news to many pathologists, who often see physicians ordering the wrong laboratory tests.
Diagnostic mistakes account for about 15% of errors that result in harm to patients, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a story in The New York Times reported. (more…)
Jun 8, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will need a strategy for handling incidental findings
When a genetic test for a certain type of cancer provides additional information that could affect the patient’s health, what is the ethical course of action for pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists? Should this information be disclosed to the physician who ordered that cancer test? In turn, should that physician inform his or her patient about these “incidental findings?”
All medical laboratory professionals will soon find themselves regularly dealing with this challenge because of the rapid increase in the number of molecular diagnostic assays and genetic tests that produce large quantities of data about the patient. (more…)
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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