Jan 31, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
Nation’s healthcare system is in the midst of major clinical, organizational, and financial reforms—many of which require immediate responses by pathology laboratories
BIRMINGHAM, England—Two major challenges in laboratory medicine were front and center this week when medical laboratory, a professionals and histopathologists gathered here in the United Kingdom (UK) for the eleventh annual Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine (FiLM).
One challenge is how to improve the quality of lab testing services and demonstrate value to payers. The other challenge is how medical laboratories in the UK can cope with shrinking budgets for medical laboratories. (more…)
Jul 27, 2011 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Some privatization of pathology and clinical laboratory testing is under discussion
If there is one thing that the healthcare systems of the United States and the United Kingdom share in common, it is the respective budget crises engulfing the national governments of both countries. Each nation is struggling to come up with the funds necessary to pay for the ever-rising cost of healthcare.
In both nations, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers are dealing with the consequences of various initiatives to reform or re-organize the delivery of medical laboratory tests. In the United States, clinical laboratories will see a multi-year reduction in Medicare Part B funding as mandated in the Accountable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). In the United Kingdom, hospital laboratories are being asked to regionalize and consolidate. In some regions, privatization of pathology testing services is under consideration.
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Jan 6, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and Medical Laboratory Leaders to Gather For 9th Annual FiLM Conference
Many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers outside of the United Kingdom (U.K.) remain unaware of its government budget-cutting initiatives that call for all sectors of government services to spend as much as 20% less money during the coming budget cycle. The nation’s oft-admired National Health Service (NHS) will also undergo unprecedented reforms even as it sees severe budget cuts.
Critics of the announced budget cutbacks—put forth by the newly-elected coalition government that took office last spring—predict that reduced spending on healthcare will affect everything from hospital staffing to clinical laboratory testing to the available number of students in medical schools. These critics believe patient wait times will greatly increase, and access to some medical services may be severely restricted. (more…)
Nov 22, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical laboratory-on-a-chip would cost under £1 and allow young people to test themselves for sexually-transmitted diseases
Some wags call a new diagnostic testing concept the “pee in the cell phone” pathology lab test. The humor is directed at cell phone-based medical laboratory tests under development in the hopes that this confidential and private diagnostic test method will encourage more young people to undergo testing for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs).
Newspapers in the United Kingdom are reporting on a research project—funded in part by the government—to develop STD tests that can be run on a USB-size chip that is inserted into a smart phone or a personal computer.
This project is a response to the significant rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people. In the United Kingdom, the rate of new infections for herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhea are rising to record levels.
Clinical Laboratory Test on a Cell Phone or Personal Computer
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Oct 11, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
GSTS Pathology Inks Pathology Testing Services Pact with KingsPath in London
In the United Kingdom, clinical pathology laboratories are facing major changes in ownership, operation, and how they are funded. One very visible sign of these coming changes is the latest expansion in the nation’s largest public/private pathology testing joint venture that took effect just two weeks ago.
On September 24, Serco Group, plc, announced that KingsPath, the pathology service arm of the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, was entering a pathology joint venture with GSTS Pathology. This partnership became effective on October 1.
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