By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 10 – July 9, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In Ireland, the big story in healthcare at the moment is the discovery that the nation’s cervical cancer screening program has failed hundreds of women who had pre-cancerous conditions or cervical cancer, but, as alleged in numerous court cases, their tests were inaccurate or the results not communicated to their physicians, or both.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV, No. 1 – January 2, 2018 issue
IN THE FIRST BROAD EXPANSION OF ITS pilot decision-support program for clinical lab testing in Florida, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) will add genetic and molecular tests, drug tests, and pathology procedures, among other assays starting in two months.
On March 1, UHC will expand its laboratory benefit management program in Florida beyond the initial 80 routine anatomical and
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 9 – June 26, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In Dallas, the relatively short-lived lab company known as Med Fusion has a new owner. After seven years, the lab partnership of Baylor Scott and White, US Oncology Network, Texas Oncology, and Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories decided to sell their ownership stakes to Quest Diagnostics. The sale comes despite $100 million of capital and
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXII No. 12 - August 24, 2015 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Taken collectively, the growing number of federal investigations of clinical lab companies and health insurer lawsuits against lab companies alleging fraudulent business practices signals a disturbing new trend for the lab industry. Although these allegations are leveled at just a handful of lab companies, the amount of money these labs took out of the system exceeds a billion dollars. Some experts expect payers will enact tough requirements to stop such abuses.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXII NO. 10 - July 13, 2015 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Clinical laboratories of all sizes are poised to become the source of much of a hospital or health system’s “big data.” At many academic center labs, greater use of genetic and molecular testing requires that more space and more staff be devoted to data management. At the same time, the latest generation of gene sequencing instruments and molecular analyzers are cheaper, faster, and more automated. These systems make it feasible for even smaller labs to offer sophisticated genetic tests.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXI NO. 10 - July 21, 2014 issue
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 for laboratory success. However, as NorDx CEO Stan Schofield said in his
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXI NO. 4 – March 17, 2014 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Authorities for Eastern Health in Newfoundland and Labrador province in Canada are conducting a root cause analysis after finding discrepancies in breast cancer testing that affected nine patients. Health officials said these cases were discovered as a result of an improved quality assurance testing program and are unrelated to problems that plagued Eastern
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XX No. 13 - September 30, 2013 issue
ALBERTA PROVINCE MAY SOON BID $3 BILLION CLINICAL LAB CONTRACT
NEWS LEAKED ON SEPTEMBER 19 that Alberta Health Services (AHS) is preparing to issue a request for proposal (RFP) to select a company to build a state-of-the clinical laboratory facility to serve Edmonton, Alberta, and the surrounding region.
A news report published by the Edmonton Journal stated
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 3 - March 4, 2013 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Based on an impressive number of 4,230,129 vials collected from 437,937 biopsies, the new study is expected to add fuel to the fire of the ongoing debate about the appropriate number of prostate biopsies physicians should collect and refer to pathology labs for cancer testing. The researchers compared the number of prostate biopsies
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XIX No. 18 - December 31, 2012 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Ascend Clinical and PathCentral see an opportunity to provide sophisticated services to community pathology groups. Ascend Clinical will expand the molecular diagnostic and gene sequencing business it is purchasing from PathCentral. PathCentral will concentrate on marketing its cloud-based anatomic pathology LIS solution and launching a pathology professional network early in 2013. Each company
