Laboratory Outreach In a value-based system, how can laboratories participate to empower patients toward preventative care and aftercare compliance? It has to be easy and convenient. The AACC provided a glimpse of plans to bring laboratory-patient interaction to the forefront.
· Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp both announced plans to place patient service centers in grocery stores and retail pharmacies. Testing will not be done there, but the move provides convenient access to get blood drawn while a patient shops.
· Several vendors like Instrumentation Laboratories, Siemens, and Roche have made investments to create a portfolio of point-of-care products in the critical care setting.
· Ushering science fiction into science reality, Qualcomm launched a five-year, $10 million challenge to the world to produce a prototype Star Trek Tricorder that has the ability to diagnose 13 health conditions and five real-time vital signs without the need for a health care worker to operate the device. AACC invited the U.S. winners, Final Frontier Medical Devices, to present its DxtER device. DxtER exceeded the competition requirements and has the capabilities to diagnose 34 diseases, from urinary tract infections to diabetes to pneumonia, in a five-pound package. At the AACC, DxtER was showcased for the first time to clinical researchers to provide insight and possibilities of becoming the first, true at-home mobile health device.
Standardization Integrated delivery networks are a rapidly growing trend for hospitals. Along with that and efforts to grow the laboratory’s outreach, comes a growing need for standardization. Improvements in the communication between the instruments, departments, and facilities is vital in a value-based care system.
The aim for many of the vendors is how to create reproducibility of laboratory results in a system with no dependency on the instrument line model. Same reagent/consumables across vendor models and standardized graphical user interfaces were the hot sales pitches for many of the instrument vendors. Same reagents provide the confidence that the smaller facilities will produce the same results as the main core facility. Standardized graphical user interfaces ensure that the look across instrument lines won’t require major additional training.
The 69th Annual AACC produced a record-breaking 21,300 attendees and 789 exhibitors, covering 246,000 square feet. It brought together a consortium of laboratory professionals, health care leaders, physicians, and vendors to learn and teach one another not only to create standardized solutions, but to challenge and innovate in preparation for the future that may lie ahead.
