Laboratory Management
Laboratory management in today’s clinical lab industry is changing rapidly and facing entirely new challenges. One problem is the lack of upcoming younger lab managers, as the retirements of baby boomer pathologists, medical technologists and lab scientists are in the near future. These individuals make up the largest proportion of supervisors, managers, and lab administrators working in labs today.
As they retire, every clinical lab and pathology group needs to have the next generation of leaders ready to step up and assume responsibilities. But, across the lab industry, there are limited opportunities for every lab’s brightest up-and-comers to get the regular management development opportunities that are common among Fortune 500 companies. The Dark Intelligence Group has called for the establishment of a mentoring program to help overcome this problem.
At the same time, downward pressure on reimbursements and mounting competition have created an environment that requires much more effort for a medical lab to grow and thrive.
Legislation, including the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, have placed significant demands on medical laboratories and healthcare providers to improve internal efficiency even while offering more services for less money. This pressure to “do more with less” is further compounded by the need to deliver increasingly personalized client service to retain and win clients.
With the era of fee-for-service medicine coming to a close, every clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology organization needs a strategy for getting paid, as new reimbursement models that support patient-centric care will make up a larger portion of lab revenues.
The challenge for every clinical laboratory manager is to understand how to evolve from a business model that is accession-centric or volume-centric to one that is patient-centric.
Many clinical laboratories today are developing data repositories to logically link all transactional and other information about a patient. These repositories allow physicians to see all relevant information, identify trends, and provide better care as a result, enabling labs to provide greater value to their customers, patients and payers, thus creating more value and becoming more patient-centric.
DARK REPORT Presents “White Paper” Summary Of Laboratory Industry
INTRODUCTION: To celebrate five eventful years of service to the laboratory industry and pathology profession, THE DARK REPORT is pleased to present its first “White Paper” on the laboratory industry. Our goal is help laboratories and their suppliers accurately identify relevant market dynami…
Business Premises Underlying Lab Industry Dynamics
This chapter addresses the characteristics of the laboratory industry which define the starting point for changes and ongoing evolution. The eight business premises listed in this White Paper describe unique situations which directly influence the ability of clinical laboratories to serve the medical…
Strategic Business Failures Of The Laboratory Industry During the 1990s
If analysis is to be accurate and objective, it must recognize and praise successful accomplishments while at the same time recognizing and criticizing failures. Human nature being what it is, however, criticism of failed business decisions is painful and bound to generate denials by the parties invo…
Dynacare’s IPO is Funded, Specialty Labs’ IPO is Next
IT WAS A DISAPPOINTING TRIP to the public equity markets for Dynacare, Inc. last month. The lab company raised only $50 million in its initial public offering (IPO). Dynacare had hoped to harvest as much as $89 million from this IPO. Plans were to sell seven million shares at about …
Premier’s Lab Vendors Hooking Up Via Internet
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory members of Premier will soon be purchasing instruments, reagents, and supplies through medibuy.com’s Internet healthcare e-commerce site. Four major lab industry suppliers are actively working to link with the medibuy.com and Premier Web sites. For Premier, this …
Medical Arts Lab Opts To File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
CEO SUMMARY: Dissident shareholders and a crushing debt burden are the reason Medical Arts Laboratory decided to file for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws. Both factors are the legacy of an ill-fated attempt to create a national laboratory organization between 1994 and 1997…
AML & Dynacare Next To Try a Public Offering
CEO SUMMARY: There will be plenty of competition for investors’ dollars this fall. American Medical Laboratories and Dynacare will join Specialty Laboratories in the effort to place an initial public offering (IPO). Three laboratory companies coming to market during the same period will…
IPO Is Major Strategy For American Med Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Since its acquisition in 1997, American Medical Laboratories’ fast growth was funded by heavy borrowing. Now this Virginia-based lab company needs to raise additional capital so it can restructure its debt and lay a foundation for the next cycle of growth. Its initial publi…
Dynacare Sets Sights On Raising $89 Million
CEO SUMMARY: Throughout the 1990s, Dynacare weathered the wholesale restructuring of health services in several key Canadian provinces where it operates. In the United States, it sought to build a national base of lab testing even as lab consolidation raged and capitated managed care cont…
Specialty Labs Prepares For Public Stock Offering
CEO SUMMARY: Stock prices for public lab companies zoomed upwards through 2000. For this reason, executives at Specialty Laboratories, Inc. believe it is an auspicious time for their laboratory to bring an initial public offering (IPO) to market. Company officials recently filed a stock r…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 12 – August 25, 2025
In an exclusive interview, a laboratory industry M&A specialist discusses what’s driving lab outreach sales to national lab companies. Also, The Dark Report analyzes ways in which pathology and clinical labs can profitably partner with pharmaceutical companies.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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