In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service’s (NHS) biggest consolidation of clinical laboratory services is expected to take place in May, after the government’s Office of Fair Trading said it will conduct no further investigation into the project. Six health trusts are collaborating on this project and will create a new provider organization to run the consolidated laboratory, which is using the name The Transforming Pathology Partnership. Core laboratories will be located in the Cambridge University Hospitals and Ipswich Hospital Trust. Labs in the four remaining trusts will be organized as stat labs. Those trusts are: West Suffolk Foundation Trusts, Colchester Hospital University Foundation Trust, East and North Hertfordshire Trust, and Hinchingbrooke Health Care Trust.
MORE ON: NHS
Under pressure to control the cost of healthcare in the United Kingdom, the NHS expects that more consolidation of laboratory testing services can generate cost savings. A separate initiative has local hospital labs bidding to win the lab testing business of primary care trusts located in their service areas. This process is known as “commissioning” in the United Kingdom.
UCSF, WALGREENS TO USE EHRS TO CUT Rx ERRORS
Walgreens and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will partner and share EHRs in a project to reduce medication errors when filling prescriptions. Pharmacists and physicians will have joint access to patients’ prescription information.
KAISER S. CALIFORNIA TO BUILD NEW LAB
Kaiser Permanente in Southern California plans to build a new laboratory facility in Chino Hills. The building is 137,000 square feet and Kaiser says it will use 90,000 square feet for the laboratory and the balance will be reserved for expansion. The facility will operate 24/7 and will employ 300 people. It is expected that the laboratory facility will open in 2016.
TRANSITIONS
- Laboratory Corporation of America has announced that Glenn A. Eisenberg will assume duties as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on June 16, 2014. He has held executive positions outside the lab industry at The Timken Company and United Dominion Industries.
Dark Daily Update
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…innovative hospitals are mining clinical data to improve patient outcomes. One example is the Carolinas Healthcare System. This health system is now data- mining in order to reduce patient re-admissions.
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