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

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark

Healthcare, Free Markets, and Consumer Choice

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

ONCE AGAIN, WE ARE PROUD TO BE FIRST TO INFORM YOU ABOUT another major development in the healthcare industry. As you will read here, physician group practices in California are about to undergo a financial meltdown. The ramifications of this will touch healthcare providers in every city around the nation. If there are widespread financial […]

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Big Challenges For Clinical Laboratories

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

AS YOU WILL READ IN THIS ISSUE, IT IS A REMARKABLE PREDICTION. Our editor states that, in only 24 months, virtually every physicians office in the United States will be connected to its laboratory providers through a web-based arrangement. In my decades of watching the clinical laboratory industry, I have never seen anything approaching the

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Hardball and Lowball in the Lab Industry

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

CLIENTS OF THE DARK REPORT and attendees at our annual Executive War College know that we are advocates for tough competition, excellence in management, and integrity in service. After all, isn’t it true that the companies many Americans annually recognize as the most respected are known for these three qualities? Certainly the recent examples of

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Don’t Take Your Eyes Off the Ball!

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

HOW MANY OF US HAD A FATHER WHO TAUGHT US THE BASICS OF BASEBALL almost as soon as we learned to walk? I can still remember my father repeatedly advising me “don’t take your eyes off the ball!” With the recent merger of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL), the warning “don’t

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How Hospital Lab Directors Fail Their Employees

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

EVERY NOW AND THEN I WANT TO TAKE some segment of the laboratory industry to task for things they ought to be doing. Today it will be hospital laboratory directors. Virtually every hospital lab administrator in the United States will tell you that they are concerned about the job stability and welfare of their lab

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Applying Heat to the Pressure Cooker

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

I AM STRUCK BY THE NON-STOP TIDAL WAVE OF CHANGE which continues to strike at clinical laboratories and pathology practices. Although it may be tough to quantify the volume of change, that task becomes easier if you use each issue of THE DARK REPORT as a measuring post of change. Take this issue, for example. As

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Choosing a Eulogy for SBCL

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

What is an appropriate eulogy for SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL), soon to be acquired by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated? I would venture to say that even SBCL’s most aggressive competitors would acknowledge that it is a fine laboratory organization, noted for quality, integrity, and consistent service to its clients. Despite those characteristics, SBCL no longer survives

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Marketplace Rewards Those Who Get It Right

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / 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

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Recognizing What the Marketplace Teaches Us

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / 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,

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Preparing for the Unexpected and Unimagined

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / 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

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