Since 1995, Reliable Business Intelligence for Clinical Laboratories, Pathology Groups and Laboratory Diagnostics

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark

Marketplace Rewards Those Who Get It Right

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS IN THIS ISSUE REVEAL INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS in our industry. I would agree with our Editor’s assessment that a new cycle of investment in laboratory companies is about to occur. There is also confirmation that laboratories which offer HMOs more than simple lab test data can get a leg up on their competitors. On …

Marketplace Rewards Those Who Get It Right Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Recognizing What the Marketplace Teaches Us

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

IT IS ONLY IN HINDSIGHT THAT MOST PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH of a situation. Unfortunately for laboratory employees in New York City, the lack of foresight by their leaders must inevitably lead to job cutbacks at three recently constructed laboratories. As you will read in our “Tale of Two Cities” starting on the next page, …

Recognizing What the Marketplace Teaches Us Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Preparing for the Unexpected and Unimagined

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

WHO WOULD HAVE EVER PREDICTED THAT A PHLEBOTOMIST would reuse needles? Just as surprising, who would have ever predicted that the phlebotomist would be working at a respected clinical laboratory like SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL)? This shocking story is a reminder that laboratory executives should never forget to anticipate every potential problem, no matter how …

Preparing for the Unexpected and Unimagined Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Who “Runs” the Lab Industry?

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

HAVE MOST OF YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHO “RUNS” THE LAB INDUSTRY? This is a serious question! Who is responsible for teaching lab managers what is necessary to run a productive, profitable, and stable laboratory organization? After all, laboratories in 1999 look very different than they did in 1989 or 1979. This is true whether …

Who “Runs” the Lab Industry? Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Sales to Become the Secret Behind Successful Labs

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

SALES WILL BECOME A NECESSARY PART of every laboratory executive’s management toolbox during the next few years. The unmistakable success of the nation’s best-performing laboratories now rests on their effective use of sales and marketing programs. This is not something that most hospital laboratory administrators want to hear. After all, creating a sales program is …

Sales to Become the Secret Behind Successful Labs Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Good Market Analysis Leads to Accurate Predictions

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

HOW MANY OF YOU REMEMBER WHEN, JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, it was MetPath/Corning Clinical Laboratories (CCL) which was on the financial ropes? At that time, SmithKline Beecham, PLC was expected to be the likely purchaser of CCL. The date was January 31, 1996. The Wall Street Journal reported that Corning Incorporated, CCL’s parent, “is …

Good Market Analysis Leads to Accurate Predictions Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

“Value Added” Services Essential to Success

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

ONE ELEMENT COMMON TO SUCCESSFUL LABORATORY ORGANIZATIONS of the future will be the ability to both understand the concept of “value added” services and to offer such services to customers. At its core, value added is an essential business strategy. There are many ways to define “value added.” But the intent is unquestioned. Any product …

“Value Added” Services Essential to Success Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Technology Cannot Replace Productive People

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

READING THE PRINTER PROOFS FOR STORIES in this issue of THE DARK REPORT, I was struck by the importance of new technology to the competitive position of clinical laboratories. Each new scientific breakthrough affecting diagnostics requires individual laboratories to assess whether or not they should adopt that technology. In our list of the Top Ten …

Technology Cannot Replace Productive People Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

What’s Next For Regional Laboratory Networks?

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

SINCE THE CONCEPT OF REGIONAL LABORATORY NETWORKS burst on the scene in 1995, I have ardently believed in their potential to help hospital laboratories remain relevant in the world of managed healthcare. The early victories of Pittsburgh’s Regional Laboratory Alliance and San Francisco’s Bay Area Hospital Laboratory Network inspired all of us. Indeed, in 1995, …

What’s Next For Regional Laboratory Networks? Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

When Managers Make Decisions

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

IF YOU OPERATE A CLINICAL LABORATORY, does the news of NeoPath, Inc.’s national contracts with Kaiser Permanente and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL) alter your competitive position in the market? After all, it’s only been a few months since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved NeoPath’s Pre-Market Application (PMA) to use its AutoPap System …

When Managers Make Decisions Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

;