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.
Two New Lab Companies Will Open in L.A. & Denver
CEO SUMMARY: It is unprecedented for two multi-billion-dollar health systems to announce laboratory testing outreach joint ventures just days apart. In Los Angeles, Providence Health & Services will partner with PAML to start a commercial lab company in the San Fernando Valle…
August 2, 2010 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
It was a productive second quarter for MED-TOX Scientific, Inc., of St. Paul, Minnesota. Total revenue climbed 18.1%, to $25.2 million, compared to $21.3 million for the same period in 2009. Operating income grew to $1.5 million, an increase of 176%. Known as a drugs of abuse testing…
Assessing the Year-End Financials For Nation’s Biggest Lab Companies
IN RECENT WEEKS, the last of the nation’s largest public laboratory companies released year-end 2009 financial reports. Each lab firm’s financial report provides useful insights about active trends in the lab testing marketplace, particularly in lab testing referred by office-based physicians. …
Baylor Pathologists Form Lab with US Oncology
CEO SUMMARY: In Dallas, Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories is part of a new laboratory partnership that includes Baylor Health Care System, Texas Oncology, and US Oncology. The four partners ponied up a total of $40 million in cash and debt to build a state-of-the art laboratory in a 1…
Two New Pathology Models Will Soon Be Tried in Dallas
CEO SUMMARY: There are notable aspects to how and why four unlikely partners are banding together to invest $40 million and create the nation’s newest reference and esoteric testing laboratory. It was the pathologists at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, Texas, who originated the vi…
Local Labs Have Opportunities To Increase MC Patient Access
CEO SUMMARY: Although the nation’s two largest laboratory companies have achieved a dominant managed care position, opportunities remain for regional labs to do more business with managed care plans. Two experts provide an update of managed care pricing trends for labo…
Need Rigorous Validation For Home Brew Assays
CEO SUMMARY: National headlines about erroneous Vitamin D results are a reminder to the lab industry of the imprecision and risks associated with home brew testing. According to one laboratory expert, every laboratory-developed test (LDT) must meet two high standards. On…
January 12, 2009 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Here’s an interesting quirk. It seems none of the major lab professional associations and societies have yet to alert their members to last week’s national news about inaccurate Vitamin D test results at Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. At least, that was true today, based on vis…
Quest Discusses Use of Mass Spec Methodology
CEO SUMMARY: Having made the decision to perform nearly all Vitamin 25(OH) D testing by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated found the transition to be challenging. That was particularly true as the volume of Vitamin D specimens tri…
LabCorp And Quest Report 3rd Quarter Financial Performance
CEO Summary: In third quarter earnings reports, both national lab companies posted modest gains in specimen volume, revenue, and net profit. More telling is the relative quiet in the current market for lab testing services. With no obvious opportunities to fuel double-digit rates of growt…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXI, No. 5 – April 8, 2024
The fragmentation of consumer markets is reflected in clinical lab services, and The Dark Report examines this trend and how it will impact labs in the coming years. Also, The Dark Report notes that the FDA has issued a controversial memo to reclassify many high-risk IVD assays.
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.