November 21, 2022, Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 16 – November 21, 2022 Issue

In yet another employment ripple from the pandemic, a group of more than 75 pathologists penned a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to retain the option for remote diagnostic work. In the letter, which appeared in the Oct. 20 issue of Nature, the pathologists wrote, “During the COVID-19 pa…

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U.S. Hospitals Will Lose Billions of Dollars in 2022

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 15 – October 31, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: Hospitals and health systems in most regions of the United States are reporting substantial losses, both in patient care and in the value of their investment portfo­lios. This is inauspicious for the clinical laboratories operated by these hospitals. Hospital-bas…

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Insights and Advice about the Lab Staffing Crisis

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 14 – October 10, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: For the past decade, it’s been recognized that the supply of skilled laboratory professionals is inadequate to meet the needs of the nation’s clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. Leadership at American Medical Technologists recommends steps that labs…

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How Genomic Testing Labs Can Improve Their Relationships with Payers

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 14 – October 10, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: For payers and health plans, it may be a matter of trust that initially curtails speedy reimbursement of new and novel genomic test claims. A panel …

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Thermo Fisher Expands Menu to Offset COVID-19 Decreases

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 14 – October 10, 2022 Issue

IT’S NOT JUST CLINICAL LABORATORIES seeking ways to repurpose the analyzers and automation they used to perform SARS-CoV-2 testing. As the pandemic continues to ease, some in vitro diagnostics (IVD) companies want to help their lab customers by expanding the types of diagnostic tests than can …

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Telemedicine Firms Offer Home Phlebotomy Service

By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Telemedicine provider Teladoc Health has announced new services for certain primary care customers that include at-home phlebotomy appointments. The move is evidence of the consumer demand for increased convenience and flexibility in their healthcare. Scarlet Health, a …

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Lean Is Smart Approach to Major Lab Cost Savings

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 13 – September 19, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: It’s a time when clinical labs are under extreme pressure to cut costs, even as they deal with understaffing. One proven approach to reducing expenses while preserving quality is to apply Lean methods in conjunction with Six Sigma tools. It is often true that successf…

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2021 Rankings of the World’s Top 12 IVD Companies

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 12 – August 29, 2022 Issue

WHILE THERE WAS SOME JOCKEYING FOR NEW positions, in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers remain entrenched in their market based on The Dark Report’s 2021 ranking of the Top 12 IVD Companies.  COVID-1…

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Public Laboratory Companies Eye More Lab Outreach Acquisitions

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 12 – August 29, 2022 Issue

PUBLICLY-TRADED CLINICAL LABORATORY COMPANIES released second quarter 2022 financial reports that confirmed a softening demand for COVID-19 tests, even as their base business revenues grew compared to last year.  While continuing to address ongoing needs…

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Tough Times Ahead for Hospitals and Their Labs

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIX, No. 11 – August 8, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: These are challenging times for the nation’s hospitals, health systems, and clinical labs. A perfect storm involving unprecedented shortages of lab staff, nurses, and other professionals with inflation-fueled cost increases and deteriorating hospital finances was a major topic of…

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