Home >> Chemistry and immunoassay analyzers for point-of-care and low-volume laboratories, 2023

Chemistry and immunoassay analyzers for point-of-care and low-volume laboratories, 2023

The intersection of news, core labs, and lab costs

June 2023—As CAP TODAY assembled its annual guides to chemistry and immunoassay analyzers (for this issue and the July issue), publisher Bob McGonnagle brought together IVD manufacturers and lab leaders to talk about consolidation and ever-larger health systems, technology, efficiencies, and centralized and decentralized testing.

Of the larger systems and labs, and the decentralization that is also common, Bryan Hanson of QuidelOrtho says, “I look at this as community health 2.0, which is: What will be the interplay between core and central labs and where patients want to be tested?”

Here’s what they had to say when they met online on April 28.

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals announced on April 26 that it acquired Geisinger Health and is creating a nonprofit organization called Risant Health to expand access to value-based care. It will seek to add additional nonprofit health systems. John Waugh, do you have a reaction to this news?
John Waugh, system VP, pathology and laboratory medicine, Henry Ford Health System: It may be the face of things to come, and maybe that’s good. I would rather see this kind of merger or acquisition than publicly traded laboratories taking on laboratories. Those are more frightening because of the disruption it causes people who have built their livelihoods around laboratory careers. I hope for Geisinger that it’s a sign of business as usual because it is a powerhouse and a well-known, well-led organization that many of us look to emulate.

Tom Lorey, can you comment on the acquisition? What has filtered down to Kaiser Permanente leadership?
Thomas S. Lorey, MD, strategic director and senior consultant, pathology and laboratory medicine, Kaiser Permanente Northern California: I share the concerns but it’s potentially a great partnership with one of the best health care organizations in the country that’s closely aligned with Kaiser Permanente’s values, and the idea of forming a nonprofit to ensure the continued independence of that entity is important.

This news points to the ever increasing need to consolidate testing where it makes sense and on a grand scale for optimal efficiency—having advanced analyzers with large menus and connectivity not only of tracks for samples but also IT. Julia Seltmann, what’s your reaction to the news?
Julia Seltmann, senior global marketing manager, Atellica Solution, Siemens Healthineers: This news reflects common trends in laboratories. One is they need to be prepared to be agile. Anything can happen and you don’t know what, but it probably will be a takeover or buyout. You have to be ready to adapt what you have to grow or shrink. You need to think about what you can have in your lab to be ready to change, whether it’s for becoming a spoke with a hub or dealing with financial pressures that will change what you’re doing. Maybe your clinical focus changes to dialysis, which you’ve never done before, or you have to prepare for another pandemic. That’s part of what labs have to build into their thought process when they’re looking at analyzers or how they’re preparing to be agile and adaptable.

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