Newsbytes

Create PDF

“Just because you can physically connect an instrument doesn’t mean there might not be IT challenges with sharing information or such factors as instrument status, uptime, and QC status that can affect the lab automation software,” Dr. Genzen emphasizes. Therefore, you want to consider all of these potential issues up front.

Another potential pain point for large-scale automation projects can be the price tag, but Dr. Genzen notes that by carefully comparing the costs of large-scale automation to less automated solutions, labs can often justify the expenditure. ARUP Laboratories, for example, builds business value models that estimate return on investment in years to avoid outlays that cannot be justified. These models incorporate anticipated capital expenditure, service and reagent costs, depreciation, expected growth rates, and testing revenue, he says, thereby painting a picture of a project’s viability.

From a big-picture perspective, Dr. Genzen once told an AACC meeting audience, the key to undertaking an automation project is “be open to new ideas; be practical; be skeptical; and play well together in the sandbox.”

Next month: Dr. Genzen offers tips on developing requests for proposal for laboratory automation projects.

—Renee Caruthers

CompuGroup Medical acquires Schuyler House and eMDs

CompuGroup Medical announced that it has purchased Schuyler House and eMDs as part of a plan to expand its product portfolio in the U.S. health care information technology marketplace.

Schuyler House markets the SchuyLab laboratory information system, with most of its business focused on physician office and reference laboratories. “By acquiring SchuyLab, CompuGroup Medical gains more options and expertise to better serve laboratories performing clinical, toxicology, pain management, microbiology, molecular testing, and more,” according to a press release from CompuGroup.

In a separate announcement, CompuGroup reported that it has purchased eMDs, a provider of ambulatory information systems and revenue cycle management services. “We are firmly convinced that both CGM and eMDs customers will benefit from this transaction through complementary product strengths,” said Frank Gotthardt, founder and CEO of CompuGroup’s Koblenz, Germany-based parent company, CompuGroup Medical SE and Co. KGaA, in a press release.

CompuGroup Medical’s U.S. business arm specializes in laboratory information systems for physician-owned labs and reference laboratories.

CompuGroup Medical, 800-359-0911

Proscia pathology platform deployed at NASA lab for collaborative cancer program

The National Cancer Institute Consortium for Molecular Characterization of Screen-Detected Lesions and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, coordinated by the Baylor College of Medicine, have deployed Proscia’s Concentriq digital and computational pathology platform in their efforts to address cancer overdiagnosis.

The NASA laboratory is digitizing a repository of pathology data for researchers in the NCI consortium and will use Proscia’s Concentriq image- and data-management platform to host and manage the repository. Concentriq will centralize the activities of the consortium’s seven sites to support collaboration and data sharing, according to a press release from Proscia.

The NCI consortium performs comprehensive molecular and cellular characterizations of tumors and tumor microenvironments to help identify aggressive cancers and find minimally invasive methods of treatment. The research data will also be used to combat overdiagnosis that results in unnecessary treatment of asymptomatic cancers, Proscia reported.

Proscia, 877-255-1341

Dr. Aller practices clinical informatics in Southern California. He can be reached at raller@usc.edu. Dennis Winsten is founder of Dennis Winsten & Associates, Healthcare Systems Consultants. He can be reached at dwinsten.az@gmail.com.