Since 1995, Reliable Business Intelligence for Clinical Laboratories, Pathology Groups and Laboratory Diagnostics

Volume X No. 11 - August 18, 2003

“Lean” Quality Methods Transform Core Lab In Florida Hospital

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: DSI Laboratories of Fort Myers, Florida became the nation’s first hospital laboratory to apply the “Lean” quality management system to a high volume core laboratory. In just 13 weeks, DSI’s Lean team created a work cell which performs 80% of the test volume in a 400-bed hospital and is staffed by just two …

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Major Events Hit Pathology Profession

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

ACROSS THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, numerous trends tug at pathologists and the laboratory medicine services they provide. Both clinical pathologists and anatomic pathologists find themselves confronted with a growing number of demands for change. Increasingly these demands can no longer be ignored or deferred, but require a response. This issue of THE DARK REPORT provides …

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National Lab Standards Coming For Patient Safety

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Because lab test data plays such an important role in medical decision-making, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a national effort to evaluate the quality of clinical and public health laboratories. In forming a Quality Institute, the goal is to issue a National Report on the Quality of Laboratory …

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Gauging The Impact Of Lab Patient Safety

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Within 18 months, the Laboratory Quality Institute plans to issue a national report on the quality of laboratory services. Not only will this bring a new level of public attention and scrutiny to clinical laboratory operations, but it will require everyone involved in delivery, use, or payment for laboratory services to respond. Labs …

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Last Week’s Power Outage Affects Labs in Many Regions

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

EVERY AFFECTED LABORATORY knows the precise time. Somewhere between 4:00 and 4:15 P.M. EST last Thursday is when the local power company stopped feeding electricity in cities ranging from New York City west to Toledo, Detroit and parts of Canada. As of press time, many labs in affected cities lacked even phone service. THE DARK …

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First ISO-Designed Clinical Lab Improves Outcomes, Costs

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: In the first 14 months of operation, Kaiser Permanente Northwest’s new automated regional laboratory facility, the nation’s first designed by an ISO-9000-certified lab organization, is yielding big gains in both productivity and outcomes. In its high-volume core lab, productivity more than doubled, while the new laboratory’s average cost-per-test declined by 8.7% during that …

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ARUP Laboratories, Ascension Health, IMPATH

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

ARUP SNAGS MAJOR HOSPITAL SEND-OUT PACT WITH ASCENSION HEALTH FOLLOWING AN EXHAUSTIVE RFP PROCESS, Ascension Health has selected ARUP Laboratories, Inc. to be its sole source provider of reference laboratory testing. This national agreement covers all 67 hospitals Ascension Health operates in 20 states. With $8.5 billion in annual revenues, Ascension Health is one of …

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Pathology Group Conflicts Over Equity Vs. Salary

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: During the next two years, two of every three pathology group practices will see a change in pathologists, either through new hires or by resignation and retirement. These events fundamentally change the financial situation of the group, but since most groups are organized under the business models of 1980s medicine, they struggle to …

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“August 18, 2003 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

Recently Laboratory Corporation of America recruited and rehired three DIANON sales reps who had left the company following its acquisition by LabCorp earlier this year. On its second quarter conference call, LabCorp officials, under criticism for numerous departures of DIANON sales stars following the acquisition, pointedly noted that three of the ex-DIANON sales reps had …

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