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.
Three Blood Brothers Release Year-End Financial Performance
FINANCIAL REPORTS RELEASED by the three national laboratories for the fiscal year 1998 reveal a definite improvement in their financial performance and cash flow. One sign of this improvement is the fact that none of the three blood brothers disclosed any huge write-downs similar to those experience…
Integrating Quest & SBCL Presents a Big Challenge
CEO SUMMARY: Will lessons learned during the commercial lab industry’s consolidation frenzy be learned and applied in the Quest-SBCL merger? History has a way of repeating itself. But Quest Diagnostics’ CEO has a different plan. He also has a tool not utilized by lab executives earlie…
Successful Laboratories Share Winning Methods
CEO SUMMARY: Leading laboratory organizations from three countries will take the podium at the EXECUTIVE WAR COLLEGE in New Orleans on May 11-12, 1999. Their objective: to share up-to-date information on effective laboratory management strategies and methods used to deal with the challeng…
Bio-Reference Labs, Tenet Healthcare, IMPATH
BIO-REFERENCE LABS QUIETLY IMPROVING LAB INFORMATION CAPABILITY LABORATORY INFORMATION is the strategic business plan driver at Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. of Elmwood Park, New Jersey. The company has begun to install an information management system throughout its labo…
Beckman Coulter Gets New CEO, Stock Gets Analyst Downgrade
AFTER SPENDING MOST OF 1998 digesting its 1997 acquisition of Coulter Corporation, Beckman Coulter, Inc. is ready for new business initiatives in the diagnostics marketplace. Beckman Coulter enters 1999 with a new leader. John P. Wareham, currently President and CEO, will assume the…
Top-Performing Labs at Executive War College
CEO SUMMARY: Once again, Executive War College time approaches. Scheduled for May 11-12, 1999 at the New Orleans Sheraton, this year’s roster of innovative laboratories promises to provide valuable insight about winning strategies. An expanded program offers a lab industry first: a know…
Health Insurance Costs Begin New Upward Spiral
CEO SUMMARY: Health insurance costs are climbing again for the nation’s employers. Premium increases for 1999 average in excess of 10%. After losing money in 1997 and 1998, managed care companies are serving stiff premium increases to their customers. For clinical laboratories, the impa…
Washington’s PacLab Network Succeeds With Standardization
PART TWO OF TWO PARTS CEO SUMMARY: In part one of this two-part series, we looked at how changes to healthcare in the state of Washington brought about the creation of PacLab Network Laboratories. In this concluding installment, we explore how PacLab is standardizing lab…
Improved 3rd Quarter Performance Posted By National Laboratories
Third quarter financial performance at all three national laboratories improved over the same period of 1997. It is an important sign that the three companies are stabilizing their finances. All three national laboratories continue to emphasize cost-cutting as a major corporate priority. That is to …
Lab Specialists Acquired By Kroll-O’Gara Company
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory Specialists of America has demonstrated a multi-year capability to increase revenues and boost earnings. The merger with Kroll-O’Gara provides it with ample capital to intensify its own acquisition program. One key to Laboratory Specialists’ success is its reco…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
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