TAG:
quality improvement
New Company Tracks Details and Prices For 60,000 Molecular and Genetic Tests
CEO SUMMARY: Advances in the speed, accuracy, and cost of next-generation gene sequencing making it possible for clinical labs to create thousands of new tests. How many new tests? NextGxDx, an information technology company, says the nation’s clinical laboratories are introducing new m…
RFID Lab Inventory System Saves $465K in First Year
CEO SUMMARY: Seeking ways to automate every aspect of work flow, the clinical laboratory at St. Francis Health System in Tulsa, Oklahoma, implemented a unique automated laboratory inventory management system that utilizes RFID. In the first four months, the system helped the hosp…
Fewer Blood Draws at UCSF Boost Patient Satisfaction
CEO SUMMARY: Physician residents at the UCSF School of Medicine set a target of reducing unnecessary blood draws. By eliminating needless needle sticks, the residents are focusing on patient experience while also encouraging physicians to pay more attention to the need to decreas…
Maine’s Spectrum Medical Group Offers Multiple Specialties
CEO SUMMARY: Pathologists looking for a viable future in a healthcare system marked by integration of clinical care and value-based reimbursement will be interested to learn about Spectrum Medical Group based in Portland, Maine. This 180-member multispecialist group includes 22 pathologis…
Quality Assurance Regs to Tighten for UK Labs
CEO SUMMARY: In the United Kingdom, a window of opportunity has opened for improving the quality assurance activities of pathology and histopathology laboratories. Last week, at the Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine conference, the newly-published “Pathology Quality Assurance Review” w…
Intermountain Seeks Shared Accountability
CEO SUMMARY: Intermountain Healthcare is one of the nation’s largest and most respected institutions. Its quality improvement efforts are well documented. Intermountain is pursuing an ambitious goal to limit cost increases to the rate of inflation. To reach this goal, every clinical dep…
Inadvertent PT “Errors” Trigger CLIA Sanctions
CEO SUMMARY: Despite taking appropriate steps to complete proficiency testing (PT), in recent years an unknown number of labs were determined to be in violation of CLIA requirements. Federal regulators are enforcing penalties ranging from suspension of the labs’ licenses to transition t…
Sarasota Hospital Lab Reduces Number of Hemolyzed Specimens
CEO SUMMARY: Seeking to improve turnaround time for stat lab tests, the laboratory at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System identified high rates of hemolysis as the chief reason for less than ideal TAT. Because 32% of blood draws were handled by the lab’s phlebotomy staff while 68% of b…
Top 10 IT Trends Send Message For Labs & Pathology Groups
CEO SUMMARY: Healthcare’s shift away from fee-for-service medicine and toward integrated clinical care is widely recognized. However, few lab administrators and pathologists are aware of the even faster transformation underway in healthcare informatics. Presented here are the “Top 10 …
TriCore Earns Multi-Site CAP 15189 Accreditation
CEO SUMMARY: To achieve the goals of continuous improvement and standardization across all facilities within its organization, TriCore Reference Laboratories opted to implement the CAP 15189 quality management system (QMS). Last month, the lab announced its accreditation to CAP 1…
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.
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