Nov 18, 2011 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
DATELINE: San Antonio, Texas—This week, a large and enthusiastic crowd of clinical laboratory managers and pathologists gathered here to participate in the fifth annual Lab Quality Confab, a conference devoted to Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement in medical laboratories and hospitals.
It was an opportunity to judge the “state of the clinical laboratory testing industry” in regards to how quality management and the tools of Lean and continuous improvement are helping to transform the nation’s more innovative medical laboratory organizations. This is an important trend in laboratory medicine and it is still in its earliest stages.
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May 19, 2011 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
IVD manufacturers often introduce their newest technologies in Europe before the United States
DATELINE: BERLIN, GERMANY: With so many changes happening to clinical pathology laboratory testing in developed nations around the world, there is keen interest in evolving technologies, along with new medical laboratory instruments and automation products that clinical biochemists and pathologists will use, in the near future, to improve the quality of the clinical laboratory testing services they provide to physicians.
Here at the IFCC-WorldLab Berlin 2011 conference, pathologists and clinical chemists from the United States got an early peek at some of the latest and newest solutions developed by the world’s largest in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers. Many products on display at the IFCC WorldLab Exhibition have only been cleared for sale by the European Union. These products do not have clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States for sale and use in this country.
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Apr 7, 2011 | Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Workshop focuses on communication requirements of ISO 15189 Medical Laboratories
DATELINE: MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA—This week, microbiologists, pathologists, and clinical laboratory scientists from across Canada are gathered for the annual conference known as AMMI Canada-CACMID. Reflecting the growing attention given to quality management systems (QMS), there is a dedicated workshop on this topic.
“Communicating Quality” is the title of this special workshop, which was organized and led by Michael R. Noble, M.D., FRCPC., who heads the Program Office for Laboratory and Quality Management at the University of British Columbia. Your Dark Daily Editor, Robert L. Michel, was one of the featured speakers at this workshop.
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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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Dec 16, 2010 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Demand for Capable Medical Laboratory Managers Will Skyrocket In Coming Years
Much is written about the acute—and soon to worsen—shortage of medical technologists (MT) and other skilled positions in America’s clinical laboratories and pathology groups. But what gets constantly overlooked is the equally critical need to have capable clinical laboratory managers, supervisors, directors, and administrators at every level in the medical laboratory organization.
This situation creates an unprecedented opportunity for those up-and-coming med techs and laboratory professionals who aspire to a management career in their clinical laboratory. Demand for their services is assured. But before they can step into management positions that come with increased responsibility and higher salaries, they must have the training, the experience, and the maturity required to be an effective manager. (more…)