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Medical Laboratory Observer's 2022 Lab of the Year is Mary Greeley Medical Center Laboratory in Ames, IA. The lab stood out for the depth and variety of initiatives its managers [...]

Many lab managers are using data analytics to measure and manage operational and clinical performance. 'We are basically a service line that provides data. We are absolutely buried with data [...]

As the number of people who are vaccinated for COVID-19 increases, the volume of testing for the virus decreases. That means clinical labs are readjusting their testing portfolios to meet [...]

Judging the entries for Medical Laboratory Observer's Lab of the Year award is always a daunting job. This was particularly true this year, given the central role clinical labs have [...]

Once the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) hit the United States, Central Ohio Primary Care, with more than 75 locations, wanted to launch polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to detect the virus. [...]

Medical Laboratory Observer's 2020 annual salary survey of laboratory professionals revealed a sizable jump in the average salary, based on the responses of all participants, although quite a few job [...]

Lab managers strive to improve both the quality and efficiency, or value, of their operations. That was the message that came through in Medical Laboratory Observer's (MLO) second State of [...]

The top healthcare technologies for 2020 aren't new, but they are on the cusp of moving into broader use. In a sign of the growing maturity of some of these [...]

Hospital-based labs are beginning to deploy next-generation sequencing (NGS) for cancer diagnostics in-house, rather than sending samples out to specialized laboratories. NGS allows labs to uncover the genetic makeup of [...]

Laboratories provide crucial data in in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. That is why industry leaders think lab managers should be involved in plotting their institution's transition from payment [...]

Human error is the culprit behind most centrifuge accidents in labs, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This means that lab managers can improve centrifuge safety at [...]

Laboratories with COVID-19 testing programs scramble to source swabs, reagents, test kits, personal protective equipment (PPE) and trained staff. But that is not all. Getting paid is another issue. There [...]

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital (PSHMC) offers something relatively rare: a hospital-based training program in medical laboratory science (MLS). Launched in 1932, the program is a key [...]

Measuring the amount of HbA1c in the blood is a common laboratory test for both diagnosing and monitoring diabetes. It also is an important test because diabetes is a major [...]

The American Society for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) are updating their evidence-based clinical guidelines for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes. Some of the major areas of [...]

Ten years ago in The Corporate Board Directors should be willing to dissent, and disagreement from others should not be discouraged or suppressed. When it leads people to engage rigorously, [...]

Labs are using increasingly sophisticated approaches to data analytics to improve their operations. Most labs use what is known as descriptive analytics, which involves interpreting what has already happened. Examples [...]

The rate of claims denials at health systems and laboratories has been increasing, which means that managing denials is becoming an important part of an organization's revenue cycle workflow. The [...]

As the COVID-19 pandemic has surged into its second year, rapid tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 and deliver results quickly have become more prevalent. The gold standard to diagnosis COVID-19 is [...]

In the International Classification of Diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies burnout as 'a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.' The [...]

Senior Editor In February, the Joint Commission announced that its survey standards would now include compliance with federal rules requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This announcement followed [...]

The large volume of testing for SARS-CoV-2 has exposed process-flow bottlenecks in clinical labs. That is why labs should prepare for an expected onslaught of COVID-19, flu and other diagnostic [...]

Why did you choose to pursue a career in clinical laboratory management? What appealed to you about a specialization in hematology testing? I chose to pursue clinical laboratory management because [...]

Given Omicron's transmissibility and resulting surge in COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued emergency guidance to help healthcare facilities, including laboratories, provide the staff necessary [...]

How did you become involved in the work of SunCoast Blood Centers? Sixteen years ago, I joined the SunCoast Blood Centers as director of donor services and recruitment, and three [...]

As 2022 dawns, a world weary from battling SARS-CoV-2 faces a new variant of the virus: Omicron (B.1.1.529). The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and [...]

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States. In 2018,34.2 million Americans, or 1 in 10, had diabetes and 88 million American adults, or 1 [...]

Transfusion medicine is an important part of the treatment process for many cancer patients, whose disease and treatment might lead to bleeding or clotting issues, too few red blood cells, [...]

Today's lab managers are pursuing a wide range of employee-retention strategies, including initiatives to boost morale and develop careers. Retaining existing staff members is regarded as less expensive than recruiting [...]

Beaumont Health debuted its serology-testing service for COVID-19 after just one month of planning--a remarkably short timeline for launching a new lab service. 'We recognized that there would be a [...]

What makes lab innovators worth watching? They develop procedures or processes to improve testing, allowing for faster and more accurate diagnoses, treatments and, ultimately, better patient outcomes. In Medical Laboratory [...]

To help its members prevent or manage diabetes, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota opted for a virtual solution. The Minnesota health insurer has partnered with Omada Health, based [...]

Mary Lanning Healthcare (MLH) in Hastings, NE, is a regional hospital serving rural communities throughout south central Nebraska. The 57-employee lab--which was just recertified by the College of American Pathologists [...]

Since 1946,Norman Regional Health System (NRHS) has been serving consumers in south and central Oklahoma. Operated by the Norman Regional Hospital Authority, a public trust, the system has two hospitals [...]

As the number of novel coronavirus cases continually increase throughout the world, laboratorians and hospitals need to ensure they are prepared to diagnose and treat infected patients. When Chinese officials [...]

After analyzing data about risk of death and emergency department usage for its cancer patients, Northwest Medical Specialties opened a walk-in clinic. A nurse practitioner staffs the clinic, which is [...]

Sean T. Campbell, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pathology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Associate Director of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at Montefiore Medical Center. He sits on [...]

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) held its Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo 'live' in Atlanta in late September. Despite the pleasant weather (warm, sunny, and not [...]

David McClintock, MD, is an Associate CMIO, Director of Digital Pathology, and Associate Director of Pathology Informatics at Michigan Medicine. He also is an Associate Professor of Pathology. Before joining [...]

While Delta is the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, a newcomer, Mu, has gained the world's attention. Mu became the World Health Organization's (WHO) fifth variant of interest (VOI) on August 30. [...]

As the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant surges throughout the United States, so has the number of cases and, therefore, the demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing. According to data from the Coronavirus Resource [...]

As pharmacogenomics becomes more common, the need to standardize best practices for detecting genetic variations in patients through testing becomes more important. That is why the Association for Molecular Pathology [...]

In this issue, the editors at Medical Laboratory Observer celebrate the spirit of creative problem-solving with profiles of MLO's 2021 Lab Innovators Worth Watching. This is a recognition program we [...]

Why did you decide to develop a digital microfluidics platform for newborn screening? What problems in newborn testing did you want to address? We have a lot of collaborations with [...]

As vaccination rates climb--albeit more slowly now than earlier in the year--labs in many parts of the country are handling fewer SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests. At the same time, newly vaccinated [...]

Lale White, MBA, is Executive Chairman and CEO of XIFIN, which markets revenue cycle management software and a laboratory information system. White launched XIFIN in 1997, She has a BA [...]

Vaccines from AstraZeneca and Janssen Pharmaceuticals are associated with a risk of a rare and severe blood clot occurring with low platelets. This is something labs should be prepared for [...]

Why did you decide to become a medical technologist and to specialize in molecular microbiology? I loved the idea of working in a laboratory and using this interest to provide [...]

The federal government has added more tools recently to the COVID-19 testing arsenal for serial screening initiatives. As the United States races to outpace the spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants [...]

Why did you choose a career pathology, transfusion medicine, and lab management? I was always intrigued by what happens 'behind the scenes' during the diagnosis of a patient and determining [...]