News that anthrax surfaced in New York City and Washington, DC comes just as we send this issue to the printer. It follows by days the discovery of anthrax in Florida. Not surprisingly, the fear of attacks by biological and chemical weapons is taking center stage in the United States. It now dominates media coverage of the war on terror.

Clearly such events place clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology squarely in the line of fire. Responding to biological and chemical attacks requires lots of help from laboratories. In many cases, as people show up in emergency rooms, it will be the hospital labs which get the first specimens, along with the job of identifying whatever active agent has affected the patient. But that's not to say that commercial labs, receiving specimens from physicians' offices, may not also be the first to identify patients who've been exposed to biological or chemical attacks.

The evidence that anthrax was deliberately sent to separate locations in two states will have a chilling effect on our society. Even as Miami officials were beginning to test postal workers for anthrax, the Miami local of American Postal Workers Union (representing clerks and distribution workers, not mail carriers) sent a letter to the White House with demand for safety measures and training. Imagine what would happen if workers in the post office and overnight delivery companies refused to handle mail and packages without onerous safety precautions.

There are new threats to our society, and it is the nation's system of laboratories which will become one of the "canaries in the coal mine." Laboratories will be among those healthcare providers who would be first to see and recognize patients affected by biological and chemical weapons, notifying government officials of such occurrences.

Within the industry, I predict we are undergoing an earthquake of significant proportions. As events related to the newly-declared war on terrorism shake our country, laboratories will be required to develop a whole new level of management procedures and crisis contingency plans. It will require significant investments in management time and staff training to bring this about. There is something which makes this particularly different and more than a little scary: any attacks with biological and chemical weapons directed at the public may also threaten those laboratorians who must come in contact with the victim of these attacks and their specimens.

Nation's Anthrax Cases Bring Bioterror to Labs

Number of cases mushrooming daily as evidence points to terrorist activity

CEO Summary:  America's clinical laboratories are soon to be enlisted in the war against terrorism. Concerns about chemical and biological terrorist attacks have reached high levels following the death of a Florida man from pulmonary anthrax and the discovery of letters containing anthrax mailed to Tom Brokaw of NBC News and Senator Tom Daschle of North Dakota. Authorities are working to link these events to terrorists.

NYC Lab Hand-Entered Requisitions After Terrorist Acts

Electronic test ordering/reporting link severed by attack on World Trade Center

CEO Summary: Crisis management was the watchword at Centralized Laboratory Services, Inc. of New York City following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Damage around the World Trade Center knocked out the communications link between the lab and a data server which transmitted electronic test orders and results. The lab found itself forced to hand-enter thousands of paper test reqs per day to maintain test services.

"Lean" Management Helps BayCare's Lab Boost Quality

Hospital Labs Attack Operational Challenges

CEO Summary: All laboratory managers and pathologists face the same challenge: do more testing with less money. This challenge is further complicated by the fact that there are inadequate numbers of trained laboratory professionals available to staff the nation's laboratories. Now, early-adopter labs are turning to management methods developed outside of healthcare as a way to solve these problems and move laboratory operations to a higher level of performance and quality.

Cerner Shakes Up Market for Path Info Systems

Purchase of Dynamic Healthcare Technologies is another example of market consolidation

CEO Summary: Cerner Corporation's pending acquisition of Dynamic Healthcare Technologies (DHT) and its well-regarded CoPath Plus product brings further consolidation to the marketplace for pathology information systems. Product options for anatomic pathology groups are shrinking as the largest healthcare informatics companies continue to acquire smaller, nimbler software developers.

Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News

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