NEW! Join MLO at its annual CLMA panel discussion on LDTs
The CLMA/MLO Expert Opinion Panel Presentation is being held on Monday, May 23, 2011, from 2:15 p.m. until 3:45 p.m. in Room 302 of the Baltimore Convention Center. The panel is part of the Compliance & Risk Management sessions. Anne Pontius, MLO’s Management Q&A editor and current CLMA president, will introduce the panel’s chair, Christopher Young, CHC, who, in turn, will introduce the panelists and the session format. Young is president of Laboratory Management Support Services, CLMA Government Affairs Representative. Also, the experts who will focus on laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) are:

• Alberto Gutierrez, PhD, Director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety at the Food and Drug Administration, addresses the FDA’s role with LDTs.
• Judy Yost, MA, MT(ASCP), Director, Division of Laboratory Services, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, addressing CLIA’s applicable rules to LDTs. This division is responsible for the oversight and administration of the CLIA program. Among Yost’s duties are approval and oversight of accrediting organizations, exempt states, and proficiency testing programs; regulation development, and publication and interpretation; and laboratory education and communication.
• Peter M. Kazon, Esquire, from Alston & Bird in Washington, DC, addressing legal concerns for performing LDTs.

NEW! MRSA cases climb during summer, fall
A study at a Rhode Island hospital, published in the March 23, 2011, in PloS ONE, found that cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections increase during summer and fall, mainly among pediatric patients. The researchers assessed MRSA isolates submitted to the hospital laboratory between January 2001 and March 2010. Compared with adult patients, pediatric patients had approximately 1.85 times as many community-associated MRSA infections during the winter and spring months and 2.94 times as many hospital-associated MRSA infections during the summer and fall. Adult patients had 1.14 times as many community-associated MRSA infections during the summer and fall when compared with winter and spring months. No differences were observed in the rate for hospital-associated MRSA infections among adults. Researchers say heat and humidity might contribute to the heavy growth of the bacteria on the skin in summer and fall.

• BS degree or higher for MT certification
• Certification recognized nationally and internationally
• Exams accredited by NCCA
• Opportunities for leadership, networking and lifelong learning

NEW! Tetanus cases in U.S. decline
Reported tetanus (caused by the toxin of Clostridium tetani) cases have declined 95%, and deaths from tetanus have declined 99% in the United States since 1947. The CDC analyzed tetanus cases reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System and found 233 cases reported during 2001 to 2008. The case-fatality rate was 13.2% among the 197 cases with known outcomes. Case fatality was higher among persons <65 years, diabetics, and among unvaccinated persons or those not up-to-date with vaccination.

NEW! Learn about lab to EHR connectivity
The Dark Report is offering the white paper “Connecting Labs to Physicians’ Electronic Health Records: Effective Strategies for Laboratories to Add Value” as a free download. Learn more here.

NEW! Free thyroid testing webinar May 25
“Thyroid Testing Strategies — What to test and when?” is a free webinar (compliments of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics) that takes place May 25, 2011, at 12:00 p.m. ET, and reviews basic thyroid physiology, the various thyroid function tests, the rationale behind choosing one test over another, and some of the contemporary issues faced in thyroid testing. Register at www.meetme.net/thyroidassays.

NEW! What Medicaid expansion means for labs
Currently, Medicaid often underpays clinical laboratory services as one means for saving money. Now, many states are also considering moving to managed care to further reduce Medicaid costs. What will this and other possible changes mean for clinical laboratories? Learn the answer to this and other pressing questions at AACC webinar “Learn What Medicaid Expansion Means for Clinical Laboratories” June 1, 2011, 2:00 p.m. ET. Learn more here.

NEW! World-renowned healthcare epidemiologist at APIC
Richard P. Wenzel, MD, MSc, of the Medical College of Virginia, will deliver the opening address during the 38th Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) June 27-29 in Baltimore, MD. Wenzel is one of the world’s leading infectious-diseases epidemiologists; his work has focused on the epidemiology of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), especially bloodstream infections and sepsis. The 2011 APIC Annual Conference features more than 60 educational sessions focusing on a wide range of infection control topics, including management of multi-drug resistant organisms, standardization of clinical processes, and legislation and public-policy issues. Learn more at http://conference.apic.org.

NEW! LPI Web Provider Portal earns ONC-ATCB Certification
Lifepoint Informatics’ Web Provider Portal, a Web-based advanced clinical results reporting and order-entry solution, has received EHR modular certification, deeming the software capable of enabling providers to meet the Stage 1 meaningful-use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Tested on April 13, 2011, and certified on April 22, 2011, under ICSA Labs’ Electronic Health Record Testing and Certification Program (Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology) the EHR modular software is 2011/2012 compliant in accordance with the criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Web-based portal supports clinical pathology, anatomic pathology, as well as radiology and cardiology ordering and resulting and also serves as a private health-information exchange.

HOT CLIPS: PATHOLOGY
Click on the highlighted words to discover various MLO archival properties concerning pathology.

• “Blurred lines of surgical, cytology, and molecular pathology reporting,” describes the pathologist’s vision of a system that allows the addition of items using rules-based technology and allows for the seamless integration of clinical, molecular, and pathology results.
• In “Healthcare reform: Expanding the role of pathology”, Charles Roussel, executive vice president of the College of American Pathologists, says healthcare reform proposals will be enhanced when pathologists are part of an integrated healthcare team. Pathologists understand disease at the molecular level, enabling them to be among the best diagnostic innovators.
• “Diagnosis for digital pathology” suggests that when deciding to purchase a digital-pathology solution, health systems need to consider how quickly and with what effort can a system be deployed. Thanks to advances in technology, systems are now available that can be deployed rapidly — with little, if any, optimization — and are intuitive to operate with minimal training requirements.
• The author of “Digital pathology enhances hospital’s tumor board meetings” explains that pathological findings are a significant component of tumor-board presentations, but assembling the pathological information for a given case can be a lengthy and painstaking process. For many hospitals, he says, a digital-pathology environment that enables pathologists to manage and interpret information originating from the digitization of a glass slide offers a practical alternative to traditional microscopy.
• “Expanding the lab’s reach with digital pathology” includes a description of advances in digital-pathology systems, including rapid slide creation, data management, and image-visualization techniques, he says, are transforming the practice of pathology. A powerful tool in anatomic pathology, advancements in digital pathology continue to enhance efficiency and accuracy, resulting in lower costs, significant workflow efficiencies, and improved patient care.
• The author of “Digital Pathology and imaging — past, present, and future” says image quality is virtually identical to viewing a glass slide under the microscope. In fact, pathologists are willing to make diagnoses based on an image versus actual glass.

Readers may want to use MLO’s website Search function to find more information, because any pathology tips published might help your laboratory improve its performance when upgrading the pathology department.

Legionella bacteria found in Playboy mansion hot tub
Los Angeles County health officials say the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease was found in a hot tub at the Playboy mansion after scores of people became ill after attending an event there in February. More than 700 people from 30 countries attended the event at the Los Angeles mansion with 69 people falling ill on the same day. Officials contacted 439 attendees, and found that 123 had experienced fevers and one other symptom, with 69 falling ill on the same day. Many attendees tested positive for legionellosis, but officials say the Legionella bug may not be the cause of the outbreak, as three attendees tested positive for the H1N1 flu. In a statement the Los Angeles County department of public health said: “Though Legionella bacteria was identified in a water sample taken from the Playboy Mansion, this bacteria has not been determined as the source of the respiratory outbreak. Learn more here.

More antibiotic-susceptibility test cards recalled
bioMérieux has voluntarily expanded its worldwide product recall of VITEK 2 Gram Negative Susceptibility Cards containing the antibiotic Piperacillin/Tazobactam (TZP). These cards are used to perform antimicrobial-susceptibility testing as part of the VITEK 2 System. Clinical laboratories are advised to perform an alternative method of testing prior to reporting results for:

• TZP and Escherichia coli, Morganella morganii, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Providencia rettgeri, Providencia stuartii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella enteric; and
• TZP and Klebsiella pneumoniae with resistant results.

Asymptomatic people with HSV-2 still shed virus
Although individuals with an asymptomatic herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection shed virus less frequently than those showing clinical signs, the amount of virus shed during each episode is similar, University of Washington researchers report in a study in the April 13 issue of JAMA. In the United States, 16% of adults are HSV-2 seropositive, but only 10% to 25% of persons with HSV-2 infection have recognized genital herpes. Moreover, most HSV-2 infections are acquired from persons without a clinical history of genital herpes, according to the study. Thus, the risk of sexual transmission does not correlate with the appearance of clinical signs and symptoms of HSV-2 but most likely correlates with viral shedding, which takes place whether or not the HSV-2-positive individual is symptomatic. Learn more here.

Testosterone deficiencies raise risk of death in diabetic men
A testosterone test may provide men with type 2 diabetes a glimpse of their risk of dying young, say University of Sheffield, U.K., researchers, whose study has connected untreated deficiencies of the hormone to a higher risk of death among this group. The study showed that 20% of the participants with untreated testosterone deficiencies died, while only 9% of those with normal levels died during the testing period. Just 8.6% of men who were being treated for hormone deficiencies died during the study. Learn more here.

Nicotine raises blood-sugar levels
Researchers have discovered that nicotine raises blood-sugar levels, and the more nicotine present, the higher the blood-sugar levels, according to a March 27, 2011, U.S. News & World Report article. Researchers from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona added equal amounts of glucose to samples of human red blood cells and also added varying levels of nicotine to each sample for either one day or two days. They then tested the HbA1C levels of the samples. The research, reported at the 241st national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, CA, March 27-31, 2011, reveals that nicotine raised HbA1C. The smallest dose increased HbA1C levels by 8.8%. The highest dose — after two days of nicotine treatment — increased blood-sugar levels by 34.5%.

Microbiologists recognized for major scientific contributions
Three members of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) are among the 13 scientists that were honored by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) with awards recognizing extraordinary scientific achievement in the field of microbiology:

• Bonnie L. Bassler is being honored for her pioneering discoveries of the universal use of chemical communication among bacteria, and the elucidation of structural and regulatory mechanisms controlling bacterial assemblies.
• Carol A. Gross is being honored for her pioneering studies on mechanisms of gene transcription and its control, and for defining the roles of sigma factors during homeostasis and under stress.
• H. Boyd Woodruff is being honored for leading the development of multiple antibiotics, vitamin B12, and the avermectins — the latter revolutionizing parasite treatment in livestock and humans.

Urine book for reference and teaching
The Color Atlas of the Urinary Sediment: An Illustrated Field Guide Based on Proficiency Testing is a 464-page book with sharp photomicrographs of the urinary sediment, along with discussions of the significant morphologic features of each element. Also presented are the results of the identification of the particular element by both referees and participants in the College of American Pathologists (CAP) proficiency testing program. Read more at cap.org/cappress.

TO VIEW AN UPDATED LIST OF UPCOMING CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, EVENTS, AND WEBINARS, CLICK HERE.

The 2011 MLO Media Handbook is now online at www.mlo-online.com.

“The best blood will, at some time,
get into a fool or a mosquito. ”
—Austin O'Malley,
physician, humorist
(1858-1932)

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