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.
Revamped Houston JV Validates Industry Trend
CEO SUMMARY: Change is notoriously slow in both the hospital and the clinical laboratory industry. The announcement of a revamped laboratory joint venture between Houston’s Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and Dynacare demonstrates that market pressures continue to encourage the ratio…
UroCor, Unilab, AmeriPath, MedPartners, Epitope
UROCOR INKS PACT TO MATCH DIAGNOSTICS WITH THERAPEUTICS HERE’S A PIONEERING EFFORT to more closely link diagnostics and therapeutics into a single product package. UroCor, Inc. and Mallinckrodt, Inc. signed an agreement that allows Mallinckrodt to sell an…
Bi-Coastal Powerhouse Formed by Lab Merger
CEO SUMMARY: Changes to healthcare continue to stimulate responses from independent commercial laboratories. This time it’s a merger of Las Vegas-based Associated Pathologists Laboratories with American Medical Laboratories of Chantilly, Virginia. This combination creates the third-larg…
Ten Management Myths Misled Clinical Laboratory Executives
CEO SUMMARY: We offer our second installment about the ten management myths which led the clinical laboratory industry astray during the 1980s and 1990s. Regretfully, clients responding to part one of this series tell us that these management myths remain alive and well—and continue to …
Pathologist Income Symposium, Healtheon, Biogenetics, Healthworks Alliance
PATHOLOGIST INCOME SYMPOSIUM DATES ARE NOVEMBER 12-13, 1999 SCOTTSDALE IS AGAIN SLATED TO HOST the upcoming private Pathologist Income Symposium, scheduled for November 12-13, 1999. This year’s symposium tackles the toughest of all topics: increasing the compensation paid by hosp…
Reference Labs Intensify Battle for Send-Out Tests
CEO SUMMARY: Expect a battle royale for hospital reference and esoteric testing by the handful of labs that offer such testing to hospitals throughout the country. With the merger of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories now a fact, competitors are al…
Kaiser’s National Lab Business Awarded to American Medical Laboratories
MANY EXECUTIVES in the laboratory industry will be surprised to learn that American Medical Laboratories, Inc. (AML) of Chantilly, Virginia has aced out Quest Diagnostics Incorporated to become the primary reference laboratory for all divisions of Kaiser Perm…
Bankruptcy at Universal Standard Brings End to Detroit Laboratory
ANOTHER OF THE EARLY 1990’S wunderkind laboratory companies is now defunct. On August 13, Universal Standard Healthcare, Inc. (UHCI) filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy action in federal court and ceased business operations. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Universal Standard was o…
KC Regional Lab Network Makes Steady Progress
CEO SUMMARY: In Kansas City, members of the Regional Laboratory Alliance (RLA) had a common purpose in forming their network four years ago—to preserve their status as laboratory provider for a major managed care plan in their area. After successfully attaining that goal, RLA’s member…
West Hills Hospital Lab Hits Outreach Home Run
CEO SUMMARY: Popular wisdom says that California’s managed care market is a financial disaster for clinical laboratories. Yet here’s an exciting story about a community hospital that launched a brand-new laboratory outreach program in 1997 and found solid success. During the last two …
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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