In our many years of service to the clinical lab industry and pathology profession, The Dark Report has consistently been first to identify important trends and explain their relevance to those responsible for managing the nation's laboratories.

Back in 1995, we predicted that the (then) three blood brothers would strive to obtain exclusive managed care contracts with the nation's largest health insurers, but that the challenges of properly servicing these contracts and making money would prove to be daunting. Certainly the big national contracts signed by SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories at below-cost pricing played a key role in its eventual sale to Quest Diagnostics Incorporated in 1999.

In 1997, we were the first to tackle the reality of total laboratory automation (TLA). Vague and unsupported pronouncements made by many vendors and their first-generation clients in lab meetings and seminars made it seem like TLA was the wave of the future for progressive labs. It was The Dark Report that challenged this perception and demonstrated that the earliest TLA installations were struggling to fulfill the financial and operational expectations established in advanced. Many clients and readers of The Dark Report have thanked us for helping them understand the limitations of TLA technology at that time.

In 1998, The Dark Report was first to publicly connect the tidal wave of hospital mergers and acquisitions to the subsequent consolidation of hospital laboratories. This analysis allowed many shrewd lab administrators and pathologists to better position their lab organization for the inevitable consolidation projects that were pushed upon them,

In 2002, The Dark Report will cover an important, still-evolving trend in clinical laboratory management. It is performance bench-marking. Hospital lab administrators and pathologists are turning to a variety of new tools for measuring operational performance and the quality of services provided, both in the integrity of test results and how lab customers perceive the lab's performance. For all of us here, this is welcome news. It is another step forward in the management sophistication of the clinical lab industry. Increasingly, the nation's lab leaders are willing to look for management tools used outside healthcare. That can only lead to further improvements in how clinical laboratories are organized and deliver testing services.

Path Trends for 2002 Show Future Direction

Our biannual pathology profession review reveals which market forces are at work

CEO Summary:  Even as pressures to squeeze costs and consolidate within the pathology profession ease, a different set of market trends is exerting influence. Collectively, these trends portend the end of the small pathology group's dominance of its local healthcare marketplace. It will become increasingly important for successful pathology groups to offer a full range of pathology subspecialty expertise.

Histology Lab Goes Mobile To Serve Customers On-Site

Palm Beach Pathology Builds Market Share

CEO Summary: During the 1990s, pathologists at Palm Beach Pathology recognized that more and more procedures were being done in ambulatory surgery centers and physicians' offices. To maintain access to these patients, Palm Beach Pathology developed a strategic marketing plan with a unique feature: a mobile laboratory that could process specimens at the clients' site and provide referring doctors with a fast diagnosis. Although the mobile lab is not a profit center by itself, it has helped Palm Beach Pathology build market share and develop new accounts with key providers in its service area.

Patent Access Limits Rapid HIV Testing in USA

Companies developing rapid HIV tests for US are unable to obtain rights to use HIV-2 virus