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 Public Laboratories Choose New Presidents
CEO SUMMARY: Three public laboratories experiencing serious financial pressure enter the new year with a change in presidents. It is a sign that stockholders and creditors are growing increasingly restless with these organizations’ inability to earn satisfactory profits. …
Cytyc Corp. Raising $48 Million To Fund ThinPrep Sales Effort
CEO SUMMARY: Armed with FDA premarket approval, Cytyc must now overcome significant obstacles to introduce its ThinPrep Pap smear system into widespread clinical usage. ANOTHER WELL-FINANCED competitor will soon enter the Pap smear marketplace. Cytyc Corporation…
1997’s Most Interesting Laboratory Innovators
CEO SUMMARY: During the next year, the clinical laboratory industry faces some of its toughest business challenges in history. Here are eight individuals who possess a unique combination of spirit and grit and seek to transform their laboratory organizations into winners. E…
Lab Services In Canada Undergo Radical Changes
CEO SUMMARY: Canada’s single-payer healthcare system is undergoing transformation. Rising costs now compel individual provinces to re-engineer their existing healthcare arrangements. In Alberta, commercial laboratories were forced to merge and cooperate with hospital-based laboratories….
Alberta Lab Regionalization Teaches Four Important Lessons
CEO SUMMARY: When the Province of Alberta sliced more than 30% from the healthcare budget in less than two years, it was borrowing a trick from high performance turnaround experts. Laboratory executives in the United States can use these same management principles in their own laboratory….
Three National Laboratories Begin 1997 With Challenges
CEO SUMMARY: Expect a number of surprises during 1997. The three national laboratories face unique challenges and must operate with unequal resources. By year’s end, the marketplace for commercial laboratory services will be quite different. However, picking the winners will not be easy…
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.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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