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.
Benchmarking with the Best To Be a World Class Laboratory
CEO SUMMARY: This fourth installment of this special series about the laboratory value pyramid introduces “Level Four: Use Benchmarks to Achieve Best-in-Class.” This is the highest level of the four level pyramid. When a lab organization performs at this level, it will be deliver…
Gearing Up the Laboratory to Exceed Expectations of External Customers
CEO SUMMARY: This is the third installment of THE DARK REPORT’S description of the Laboratory Value Pyramid. It describes “Level Three: Deliver Value that Exceeds Expectations.” This is the level where the laboratory organization now shifts its emphasis from internal operation of…
Level Two of Value Pyramid Defines Internal Benchmarks
CEO SUMMARY: In this second installment of our series on the laboratory value pyramid, we introduce “Level Two: Establish and Meet Standards of Value.” This second level continues the lab’s focus on its internal operations and activities. The goal is for the lab to develop the working cultu…
Theranos Pursues Different Business Plan in Arizona
CEO SUMMARY: Since its big public debut in late 2013, Theranos has been the subject of keen interest and much skepticism among pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals. Theranos is expanding its presence in Phoenix, Arizona. However, as it does, it looks more like a conventional…
Pathologist Raises Questions about Theranos’ Business Model
Dear Editor: I read your two articles on Theranos in the August 11 issue of THE DARK REPORT, and concur in large part with your thoughtful conclusions. For several years, I have closely followed Theranos and have been quoted in trade publications speaking favorably…
Defining a Path to Clinical Laboratory Best-in-Class via Benchmarks
CEO SUMMARY: With the American healthcare system undergoing a major transformation, it is essential that all clinical laboratories and pathology groups recognize this transformation and effect the right strategies to meet the needs of physicians, patients, and payers. A g…
NorDx CEO Shares Five Rules Critical to every Lab’s Success
CEO SUMMARY: To meet the financial challenges of healthcare today, clinical labs and pathology groups can follow the five classic lab rules of success. However, as noted by Stan Schofield, CEO of NorDx Laboratories in Scarborough, Maine, the “old school” methods need …
Dealing with Realities of Changing Market
CEO SUMMARY: Swift transformation of the American healthcare system is causing financial challenges for those clinical labs and pathology groups that have been slow to react to these developments. At NorDx Laboratories in Scarborough, Maine, the team is following the classic five rules fo…
New Skills Needed for Difficult Lab Job Market
CEO SUMMARY: Across the nation, a small but growing number of pathologists and lab directors has begun to engage career coaches and management recruiters specifically to sharpen their interviewing and career development skills, even though they are still employed. One expert says this tre…
Lab Serving Large MD Group Manages Quality and Costs
CEO SUMMARY: For decades, pathologists have pointed out that their expertise in laboratory medicine can be tapped by physicians to improve utilization of lab tests, contribute to improved patient outcomes, and reduce the overall cost of care. Exactly that is now happening at Atrius Heal…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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