TAG:
Esoteric testing
Esoteric testing allows the analysis of rare substances or molecules that are not performed in a routine clinical lab. Many large commercial lab companies outsource complex tests to reference and esoteric testing labs. However, as technology continues to expand laboratory testing, tests that are considered esoteric today may become routine in just a few years. This is often the result of work performed by dedicated research and development scientists.
These tests are ordered when a physician requires additional detailed information, outside routine lab testing, to complete a diagnosis, establish a prognosis or choose and monitor a therapeutic regimen. Esoteric testing generally requires sophisticated instruments and materials as well as specialized personnel to perform and analyze results. The tests are typically outsourced to independent, specialized clinical reference laboratories because it is not cost effective for hospitals and physician office laboratories to perform the tests in-house.
These tests are ordered less frequently than routine tests and are generally priced higher than the routine tests. Esoteric testing is typically related to the medical fields such as endocrinology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, molecular diagnostics, oncology, serology and toxicology. Molecular diagnostics is the fastest growing segment of esoteric clinical testing.
The American Chemical Society publishes the Directory of Rare Analyses (DORA) which catalogues rarely ordered clinical tests and provides details on the labs performing them.
The challenges for labs performing such tests include not only finding qualified medical technologists, but also paying them the higher salaries they command because of the scarcity of their skill sets. In addition, materials used in these tests can also be costly, particularly because they are not usually purchased in large enough quantities to qualify for economies of scale.
Labs that perform these tests have capabilities including:
• Allergy
• Complex anatomic pathology with board-certified pathologist
• Bone markers
• Genetic analysis
• HLA testing
• Functional assays of the immune system
• Toxicology
In the U.S., labs that perform these tests range from ARUP Laboratories, Mayo Medical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, and Laboratory Corporation of America to a growing number of specialty esoteric testing laboratories that offer proprietary esoteric assays. Examples of such specialty testing lab companies include Myriad Genetics, Genomic Health, and Foundation Medicine.
Goodbye Clinical Labs! Hello Genetic Testing Labs!
IS THE CLASSIC MODEL OF THE INDEPENDENT PATHOLOGIST-OWNED CLINICAL LABORATORY that is the sole source provider of all routine, reference, and esoteric testing to physicians in its community on its way to extinction? There is strong evidence to support a “yes” answer to that question….
To Stay Afloat, Dallas AP Group Cut Staff, Payroll
CEO SUMMARY: As early cases of COVID-19 spread in some states, pathologists at the 50-member ProPath group in Dallas prepared for a widespread outbreak by preserving cash and working with bankers and other advisors to apply for federal stimulus funding. Executives also fur…
December 16, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
John M. Mattsen, III, MD, one of the founders of ARUP Laboratories of Salt Lake City, died on November 9, at the age of 86. As a pathologist and an executive leader, he was at the forefront of laboratory medicine for many decades. A graduate of Brigham Young University…
December 16, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
John M. Mattsen, III, MD, one of the founders of ARUP Laboratories of Salt Lake City, died on November 9, at the age of 86. As a pathologist and an executive leader, he was at the forefront of laboratory medicine for many decades. A graduate of Brigham Young University…
Paths of Hospital Labs, Independent Labs Diverge
CEO SUMMARY: With each passing year, the primary role of hospital and health system labs evolves in a different direction than that of independent lab companies. This trend is a response to the creation of integrated delivery networks paid on value and how they are scored on their ability…
NYU Langone and Sonic Healthcare Create Laboratory Outreach Joint Venture
CEO SUMMARY: NYU Langone Health recognized the clinical and financial advantages of providing competitive lab outreach testing services to its employed physicians. The laboratory joint venture with Sonic Healthcare USA will allow NYU Langone to increase use of its hospital labs and will f…
Six Years after Launch, Med Fusion Sold to Quest
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 Qu…
Value-Based Care Is One Goal Of WHCN-Sonic Lab JV
CEO SUMMARY: Announced last month, the new laboratory joint-venture partnership with Sonic Healthcare’s Sunrise Clinical Laboratories will allow WCHN to compete with other health systems and prepare to respond to health insurers’ requests that hospital systems offer lower rates in val…
Mayo Medical Laboratories Will Close Massachusetts Lab
IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT MADE LAST MONTH, Mayo Medical Laboratories said that it would close the lab facility it operates in Andover, Massachusetts, by the end of the year. As a result of this move, Mayo will eliminate 105 jobs in this leafy suburb north of Boston. For 20 years, MML…
State of Clinical Lab Industry Likely to Be Mixed in 2016
CEO SUMMARY: Over the next 24 months, it will be essential for every clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology group to develop clinical and financial strategies that meet the changing needs of health insurers, hospitals and health systems, physicians, and patients. THE DARK REPORT provi…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXI, No. 16 – November 25, 2024
Two different federal lawsuits that challenge the authority of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate laboratory developed tests (LDTs) will be combined. Plaintiffs and the government in both cases agreed to move forward on this basis.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
Lab leaders rely on THE DARK REPORT for actionable intelligence on important developments in the business of laboratory testing. Maximize the money you make-and the money you keep! Best of all, it is released every three weeks!
Sign up for TDR Insider
Join the Dark Intelligence Group FREE and get TDR Insider FREE!
Never miss a single update on the issues that matter to you and your business.
The Dark Report • 21806 Briarcliff Dr • Spicewood, TX 78669
Phone: 512-264-7103 • Toll Free Number: 800-560-6363
Email: info@darkreport.com
© 2024 The Dark Report. All rights reserved.