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.
Quantum Dot Corporation, Healtheon/WebMD, Illumea
QUANTUM DOT CORP. TO COLLABORATE WITH GENENTECH PROGRESS IS SWIFT AT Quantum Dot Corporation, based in Palo Alto, California. Quantum Dot announced an agreement to collaborate with Genentech, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California. The goal is to e…
LabCorp Buys Two More California Laboratories
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory Corporation of America is serving notice that it intends to increase its competitive presence in California, the largest market for diagnostic testing in the United States. It recently signed agreements to purchase two respected independent laboratory companies, on…
Consolidated Med Labs Prepares To Close Down
CEO SUMMARY: One of the clinical lab industry’s most successful for-profit joint ventures will close its doors after 20 years of operation. The demise of Consolidated Medical Laboratories again demonstrates how difficult it is to overcome the different political agendas of hospital part…
Spectrum Labs Selects Nate Headley To Be CEO
CEO SUMMARY: Spectrum Laboratory Network, a joint venture among several large hospitals, recently selected Nate Headley to be its new Chief Executive Officer. Since its launch in 1997, Spectrum has performed below the expectations of its hospital owners. It was to enhance laboratory servi…
Shared Lab Organizations Evolving Into New Forms
CEO SUMMARY: For two decades, the limited number of laboratory joint ventures that appeared were invariably partnerships between commercial labs and hospital labs. Today’s hostile healthcare environment makes it tougher for these types of joint ventures to prosper and meet the needs all…
Hospital Labs To Regain Pre-Eminence in Coming Years
CEO SUMMARY: During the past five years, powerful forces in the healthcare marketplace positioned hospital-based laboratories to once again become the dominant force in laboratory testing. But this can only occur if today’s generation of hospital laboratory directors and clinical pathol…
2000’s Movers & Shakers Represent Strong Leaders
CEO SUMMARY: Its time again for THE DARK REPORT to make its yearly selection of the lab industry’s Movers & Shakers. Individuals chosen for 2000 represent a cross section of laboratory companies. Their successes demonstrate that leadership and vision continue to make a difference, d…
Honolulu Lab Pursuing Pacific Rim Business
CEO SUMMARY: With one laboratory already operating in Guam, Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc. (DLS) is poised to expand its services in the Pacific Rim area. Now a major competitor within Hawaii, DLS sees the island archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean as a natural extension of its existi…
Independent California Lab Decides to Exit Business
CEO SUMMARY: Market forces in California continue to put independent laboratories under sustained financial stress. One laboratory owner decided it was an auspicious time to sell his lab. That sale, of POISONLAB to Laboratory Corporation of America, was announced earlier this month. There…
Bio-Reference Labs, CARESIDE, United Healthcare, MetLife, Foundation Health
BIO-REFERENCE LABS MOVES TO START PATIENT-DOCTOR MESSAGING ONE OF THE NATION’S MORE AGGRESSIVE efforts to refocus the clinical laboratory organization can be found at Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc., located in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. Bio-Reference wants to use its bas…
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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