Corrective action is a beautiful thing. When quality control is out of limits, running a fresh control that is acceptable saves time, avoids an irritating sample look back, and reassures the tech. When a weak blood bank reaction in all tubes disappears by recollecting a sample and letting it clot in the refrigerator, a simple fix is found. And ...

The introduction of two new hospital facilities in the US marks the beginning of a shift in the healthcare industry. According to a recent news release from Dark Daily, a nationwide change from inpatient- to outpatient-based treatment approaches has resulted in the construction of “bedless hospitals.” In preparation for changes due to the ...

It’s time to choose a new main chemistry analyzer. Sometimes this choice is easy: there is one vendor on a group purchasing organization (GPO) contract or one analyzer has a unique menu. Other times, it simply comes down to cost. Here are a few points to consider, in no particular order: Cost. It always, always, always comes down to ...

As Meaningful Use criteria push towards required interoperability and changing reimbursement methods necessitate more coordinated care, HIEs are looking more and more appealing to hHealthcare providers. The HIE market practically exploded last year, growing more than 40%, according to a Chilmark Research report. ''As federal incentives drive the ...

Jargon has always been used and does have its place in our communication. Just imagine if a physician wrote out the full name of every test, procedure and medication for every patient very time. In medical lab science where would we be without QC, CBC, CMP, FBS, ESR, PT and the like? Abbreviations are handy and useful. There are also times when ...

One of the most common telephone calls I get is, “Did you read my email?” I don’t respond, “Did you walk twenty feet down the hall to talk to me?” mostly because I’m guilty of the same. Telephones are easily domesticated critters. I have caller ID in my office, and if the number isn’t one I recognize or need to respond to I let it go to voice ...

A New York Times article cites studies of how much time we waste on the job. Microsoft: 16 out of 45 hours in a work week. America Online and Salary: two out of three days a week. Steve Pavlina, a self-proclaimed work expert: we work only one and a half hours a day. Paradoxically, we spend more time at work: the average professional work ...

I attended the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) annual meeting in Atlanta. The meeting was a great opportunity to meet members of the laboratory community. The keynote speakers demonstrated, in a debate format, the challenges faced by practicing clinicians on appropriate test selection and correct interpretation of test ...

This week, I exchanged my office desk with an adjustable, ergonomic computer table. My old desk was vintage 1970s: steel, drawers on each side, a pencil drawer, and a filing drawer. It weighed at least two hundred pounds and looked like salvage from the Titantic. A tech looked at the new table and said, “Where are you going to put the ...

Special thanks to Frank Irving for his excellent coverage over the last year with his blog The Politics of Health Care. He is moving on to other projects, so we wanted to share with readers some his most popular posts from the past few months.--Mike Bederka, EditorNational Cancer Institute Revamps Clinical Trials Program  Ohio State ...