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Can labs bridge the hematology data disconnect?
October 2024—Do clinicians understand how the technology in hematology has evolved and how laboratory data can help guide their decisions? It’s a question roundtable participants took on when they met online Aug. 29 with CAP TODAY publisher Bob McGonnagle. “There’s a disconnect with our clinical colleagues,” said Olga Pozdnyakova, MD, PhD, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She and others spoke about solutions, instruments, AI, and reference ranges—in addition to the staffing shortage. “It is first and foremost in our minds,” Maria (Ria) Vergara-Lluri, MD, of Keck School of Medicine of USC, said of the ongoing shortage.
Following their conversation below is an all-new CAP TODAY guide to hematology analyzers (pages 41–51). The questions we asked vendors about their instruments were updated and revised for the first time, providing new insight into the instruments on the market.
A few issues from our discussion in last year’s roundtable on hematology analyzers carry over to today’s conversation: the efforts to cut back on the number of manual differentials we’re asking to have done in labs; the continuing work around bands versus neutrophils; the remote viewing of cells, à la surgical pathology, when we want an automated look at blood cells; and artificial intelligence in the world of hematology. Fernando Chaves, is there something new here? Where do you place us in the state of hematology today?
Fernando Chaves, MD, director, medical and scientific affairs, specialty lab solutions, Siemens Healthineers: Our main focus continues to be on digitalization and digital integration to improve patient care and workflow. For manual reviews, it’s not a question of how many slides are needed but how much labor and turnaround time are required to review a slide. That’s why we focus on the importance of digital morphology, the ability to use digital hematology, which gives a full-field view on a computer screen and the same experience as you have on a microscope. You see not only random selected cells but also a view of the entire slide. You can see the context of each cell, navigate through the slide on the computer screen, and do it remotely. It saves time and shortens turnaround time.
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