Tag: polymerase chain reaction

Health System Lab Is Genotyping To Identify Best Drugs for Patients

By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 2 – January 30, 2017 issue

CEO SUMMARY: One essential element of precision medicine will be the regular use of pharmacogenomic testing to provide additional guidance to physicians when selecting the most appropriate therapeutics and optimal dose for each individual patient. Despite the reluctance of private payers and Medicare to reimburse for pharmacogenomic tests, Avera Institute for Human Genetics (AIHG) in

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Palmetto GBA Issues Guidance On Billing NGS Test Panels

By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII No. 3 – February 29, 2016 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Across the lab industry, next generation sequencing is taking hold as an effective and efficient testing platform. In response, payers are developing coding and payment policies that may affect the finances of clinical labs. Last month, Palmetto GBA, a Medicare contractor, issued NGS test guidelines that some experts see as an attempt to

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Leveraging Testing Technology To Identify MRSA, C. Difficile

By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 3 - March 4, 2013 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Probably the most challenging infections for hospitals to control and reduce are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff). The laboratory at one New York hospital introduced algorithms to screen for the presence of each infection. In the past five years, the hospital not only cut costs by almost $3 million

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TriCore Lab Adds Value with Consults, Better TAT

By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 8 - June 17, 2013 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Motivated by the goal of delivering more value to clinicians and client hospitals, the lab team at TriCore Reference Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is proactively introducing new services. One such initiative is to travel to hospitals to participate in rounds and consult with physicians regularly. Another initiative improved the accuracy of C.

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GHSU Graduates Med Techs Using Distance Training

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XIX No. 2 - January 30, 2012 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Many clinical labs experiencing a shortage of trained medical laboratory scientists (MLS) in their city continue to overlook how the use of distance training programs could help them attract and retain top-performers. Leaders of the clinical laboratory scientist (CLS) distance training program at Georgia Health Sciences University (GHSU) say distance students are enthusiastic

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Roche Offers $5.7 Billion To Acquire Illumina Inc.

By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XIX No. 2 - January 30, 2012 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Once again, Roche is hunting for gene sequencing and gene analysis technology that can support its goal of being a world leader in gene-based therapeutics and clinical lab testing that utilizes gene tests and molecular diagnostics. Last week, Roche launched a hostile stock tender offer for shares of Illumina, Inc., of San Diego,

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October 17, 2011 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XVIII No. 14 - October 17, 2011 issue

Have you ever heard the term “digital PCR” (Polymerase Chain Reaction)? That technology was of such interest to Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., that it just paid $162 million to acquire QuantaLife, Inc., the company that developed this digital PCR technology. The deal was announced on October 5. In the press release, it was noted that, “QuantaLife

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Influenza A Test Is a Help When Screening for H1N1

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XVI No. 8 - June 8, 2009 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Viracor Laboratories is preparing to handle expanded volumes of influenza testing prior to the start of the next flu season. It will use added instrumentation and expanded working hours to expand capacity. Another strategy is to use influenza A testing as a way to reduce the overall number of influenza specimens that might

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August 18, 2008 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XV No. 11 - August 18, 2008 issue

There’s a new lab company in New York City. Manhattan Physicians Laboratory, Inc. (MPL) was recently launched by two former executives from Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. Thomas Golubic is MPL’s President and William Nouri is Vice President and Lab Operations Director. Both executives worked at Quest Diagnostics for 20 years. Last month, MPL disclosed that it

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FDA Approves New Test For Respiratory Viruses

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XV No. 1 - January 21, 2008 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Respiratory viruses are responsible for 75% of all visits to physicians and yet physicians struggle to identify whether an infection is viral or bacterial. Now there is a new molecular assay with FDA clearance that allows physicians to test for 12 common viral infections. It is the xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) from

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Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018

DID CONGRESS JUST PASS A LAW that makes innocent labs guilty of criminal acts? At the last minute, Congress added all clinical laboratories to a far-reaching anti-kickback provision in the newly-enacted Support for Patients and Communities Act -- a provision that makes common practices such as paying commissions to sales staff or placing phlebotomists in labs could be illegal. Worse: The experts are baffled by the language of the new law. Notes one of these experts in this issue, "Someone in the clinical lab industry may have to get prosecuted before we get some clarity, unless the Secretary of HHS issues clarifying regulations."

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Tag: polymerase chain reaction

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