Sep 14, 2011 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
In Silicon Valley, biotech and molecular companies “raid” hospital laboratories to hire away MTs and CLSs
Competition for already hard-to-find medical technologists (MT) and clinical laboratory scientists (CLS) is heating up as biomedical and molecular development companies vie with hospitals and medical laboratories for these highly-prized workers. Growth in demand for MTs and CLSs by biotech companies means that clinical laboratories will face stiff competition when recruiting and hiring for these positions.
This competition for hiring MTs and CLSs was recently the topic of a story in the San Francisco Business Times (SFBT). Molecular development companies in the Bay Area want to hire qualified clinical laboratory professionals. The demand pressure from this emerging sector is driving up wages and further stressing the capacity of underfunded job-training programs, according to the article. (more…)
Sep 7, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical laboratory managers are often part of the ER’s process improvement team
Hospital emergency rooms (ER) across the country are intensifying their focus on improving patient safety and reducing errors. The cost of malpractice lawsuits filed after errors in emergency rooms is a major reason why growing numbers of hospitals are initiating formal programs to identify and eliminate the source of errors and wrong care provided to patients.
It probably won’t surprise most pathologists and clinical laboratory managers to learn that diagnostic errors are one significant source of malpractice claims that result from care provided by hospital emergency rooms, which can often be chaotic and overcrowded. Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that a large percentage of medical errors in hospitals—and the resulting malpractice suits—occur because of mistakes in the emergency room. Studies of closed claims show that 37% to 55% of the malpractice suits are attributable to diagnostic errors. (more…)
Mar 9, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Two site visits showcased smooth-running medical laboratories with great staff
DATELINE: CAIRO, EGYPT—on Monday, your Dark Daily editor was privileged to visit two clinical laboratories here in Cairo. Each site visit provided ample proof that, despite differences in the Egyptian healthcare system, there are plenty of similarities in how each clinical pathology department is equipped, organized, and operated, compared to clinical laboratories in other countries.
First stop on the Dark Daily medical laboratory tour was Ain Shams Specialized Hospital in Cairo. This teaching hospital is affiliated with Ain Shams University and has more than 800 beds. It is primarily a surgical hospital. Its laboratory is organized to serve the needs of surgeons. There is also an emergency room and ICU service, which means that Ain Shams Specialized Hospital does admit, and treat, a certain number of inpatients with a variety of diseases and health conditions.
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Feb 28, 2011 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Gap between supply and demand for Medical Laboratory Technologists (MT) encourages greater use of laboratory automation
If there is a Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of pathologists and clinical laboratory managers, it is the largest workforce shortage in the history of the medical laboratory industry. For 2011 and beyond, demand for skilled medical technologists (MT) and clinical laboratory scientists (CLS) will far outstrip supply.
Today, many hospital and health system laboratories operate short-staffed. They are unable to recruit and retain even the number of staff positions that are authorized and budgeted. In cases where a thriving hospital laboratory outreach program is generating substantial annual increases in the volume of specimens to be tested, the medical laboratory’s inability to recruit the additional MTs and CLSs required to handle this work creates a high-stress environment for everyone in the laboratory organization.
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Aug 3, 2009 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
ASCP and NCA create a single credentialing agency, effective October 23, 2009
Life is about to become simpler for Medical Technologists (MTs) and Clinical Laboratory Scientists (CLSs)! A single certification agency for medical laboratory professionals was announced last Friday, based on an agreement between the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Registry (BOR) and the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA).
The new, consolidated credentialing entity will be called the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC). Effective on October 23, 2009, the ASCP BOC will serve as the certification body for medical laboratory professionals. The NCA will be dissolved as a corporation.
Finalization of this agreement was jointly announced by Kathleen Becan-McBride, Ed.D., MT(ASCP), Chair of the ASCP Board and Registry Board of Governors, and Susan Morris, CLS (NCA), NCA President. It was last July 21 when both groups first disclosed their agreement to form a new consolidated agency for certifying medical laboratory professionals. (See Dark Daily, “MT & CLS Laboratory Certification Agencies Agree to Unite”)
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