CAP Today Recommends

As part of its ILuminations Webinar series, Instrumentation Laboratory will offer on Sept. 18 the free webinar, “Improving Clinical Outcomes in Critical Care.” Discussed in the webinar, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST, will be the hazards, benefits, and safe and effective practices in oxygen therapy. [Register here]   * More CAP TODAY Recommends * *

Orchard Software has published a free white paper entitled, “The Value of the Lab in the New Healthcare Model.” If you are concerned about how your laboratory will fit in the changing health care environment, this white paper can help you rethink your lab’s role within your organization, encourage you to become more engaged in your facility’s overall success, and help you successfully maneuver through the volume-to-value shift in the health care reimbursement model. * More CAP TODAY Recommends *

The College of American Pathologists Pathology and Laboratory Quality Center (the Center) develops and maintains evidence-based guidelines and consensus statements. The CAP welcomes participation in the open comment period through July 29, on the Center guideline recommendations for Immunohistochemical (IHC) Assays: Principles of Analytic Validation. IHC testing is an essential component of the pathologic evaluation of many specimens and increasingly provides key information that helps determine how patients are treated. As with any laboratory test, laboratories must validate all IHC assays

As part of its Continuum series, Clarient offers the free webinar “Enhancing Flow Cytometry Service,” which takes place on both Tuesday, June 4, and Thursday, June 13. Antony Bakke, PhD (ABMLI), director of flow cytometry, Clarient, will present the webinar, the focus of which will be a 10-color assay that improves sensitivity to detect hematopoietic neoplasia. [more] * More CAP TODAY Recommends * *

A coalition representing more than 120,000 medical and laboratory professionals and institutions that perform the vast majority of clinical molecular pathology testing in the United States released a joint statement about new Medicare prices for those tests. The groups include the CAP, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, American Clinical Laboratory Association, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, American Society for Clinical Pathology, American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, Association for Molecular Pathology, California Clinical Laboratory Association, and Society for

Validating Whole Slide Imaging for Diagnostic Purposes in Pathology This clinical guideline, now available in Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, is the first-of-its kind and marks a significant step forward in demonstrating the value of this emerging technology for diagnostic use. The document serves as a practical guide for pathologists and laboratories to confirm the accuracy and concordance of their own whole slide imaging (WSI) systems for diagnostic work while ensuring the digital tool is being used properly for

The Artel Digest contains timely information, regulatory updates, application notes, and news about best practices in pipetting and automated liquid handling. [more] * More CAP TODAY Recommends * *

Video Series In a collaborative effort to discuss the future of the laboratory in health care, CAP TODAY publisher Bob McGonnagle met with Orchard Software chief operating officer Curt Johnson and Orchard medical director Mick Glant, MD. This series of “roundtable discussions” was recorded and edited into a series of short videos on various topics surrounding the laboratory and informatics. We’ve published a total of eight videos, which you can watch here.

We have all encountered aberrant bits of tissue (floaters) on microscopic slides and within paraffin tissue blocks. Most of the time these are from obviously different tissue types and pose no diagnostic difficulty, though they often serve for us to remind the gross room and histopathology staff of the importance of scrupulous cleanliness. [more]   More CAP TODAY Recommends    

The College of American Pathologists has released a white paper, “Laboratory Interoperability Best Practices.” The CAP Diagnostic Intelligence and Health Information Technology (DIHIT) Committee developed the paper to provide pathologists and laboratory professionals with a concise overview of 10 common issues to consider when establishing and maintaining laboratory interfaces, along with approaches for issue mitigation.   More CAP TODAY Recommends