Sep 16, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Clinical laboratory assays based on low-cost paper strip tests could make detecting malaria easier in rural areas of Africa and Southeast Asia
In the field of remote medical pathology, diagnostic tests strips made from paper can provide low-cost, simple-to-perform testing in developing nations. These are regions where such diagnostic test capabilities are desperately needed by medical laboratory scientists and resource-strapped clinical laboratories.
One such example is a new paper strip test that can detect malaria for people in rural areas of Africa and southeast Asia. Such tests could also lower the cost of diagnostic testing in other parts of the world. Research teams have been working on various paper-based tests for at least the last decade. (more…)
Feb 20, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Medical laboratory continues to operate, retains its CLIA certificate, and maintains that the PT violations at heart of CMS case were inadvertent
One nationally prominent clinical laboratory organization closed its chapter in the ongoing story of CLIA enforcement of the regulations governing the inadvertent referral of proficiency testing specimens. But this chapter ended with an unexpected twist for the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC), which was given severe sanctions by officials of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), despite recent enactment of a new federal law on the subject of enforcement of CLIA proficiency testing errors.
The settlement between OSUWMC and CMS was announced on January 16. It calls for OSUWMC to:
- Appoint a new medical director for the clinical laboratory,
- Pay $268,000, and
- Provide additional training to the medical laboratory staff in proficiency testing (PT).
New Medical Director Named at OSUWMC’s Clinical Laboratory
OSU named Daniel Sedmak, M.D., to the position of medical director of the clinical laboratory, as part of this resolution with federal officials who administer the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). Sedmak is currently the Chair of the OSU College of Medicine, Department of Pathology and a professor of pathology.
Last month, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center issued a press release stating that it had resolved pending sanctions assessed against its clinical laboratory by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for violations of CLIA requirements, including the inadvertent referral of proficiency testing specimens. (Photo by Wikipedia.com.)
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