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COVER STORIES |
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A Look at Emerging Cardiac Biomarkers
What Type of Analyte will be the Most Informative?
By Genna Rollins |
Widely used to diagnose cardiovascular disease, cardiac biomarkers are increasingly important in assessing risk and prognosis and are being evaluated to guide therapy for CVD. New uses of these markers, novel markers, and new technologies are poised to advance diagnosis, risk prediction, and treatment in the coming years. |
 Online Extra
Clinical Chemistry Conference on CVD |
The Future of Lab Utilization Management
Are Lab Formularies the Answer?
By Bill Malone |
Medicare and other payers continue to target overutilization of lab tests as a way to curb healthcare costs. Now, forward thinking laboratorians are taking advantage of this environment to make the lab part of the solution, creating lab test formularies and positioning themselves as utilization experts that can improve the quality and efficiency of care. |
Online Extra
Managing Test Utilization with Physician Report Cards |
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SERIES ARTICLE |
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Coagulation Tests
A Primer on Hemostasis for Clinical Chemists
By Neil S. Harris, MBChB, MD, Lindsay A. L. Bazydlo, PhD, and William E. Winter, MD |
Laboratory assessment of hemostasis presents many challenges for laboratorians and the clinicians who interpret the results. This review provides the ABCs of coagulation tests that all clinical chemists should know. |
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INSIDE |
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AACC’s EXPERT ACCESS
Autoverification of Clinical Laboratory Results
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Each month, AACC’s Expert Access Live Online Program features a different hot topic. Read excerpts from a Q&A with Sihe Wang, PhD, DABCC, FACB, about how your lab should implement autoverification and address the challenges that come with using it. |
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PATIENT SAFETY FOCUS |
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The Impact of Health Literacy on Patient Safety
How Labs Can Confront the Challenges of Low Health Literacy
By Corinne Fantz, PhD |
In this Q&A, Dr. Mark V. Williams, a national expert on health literacy offers tips for how labs can put safeguards in place to help patients understand their lab tests and results. |
Clear Communication and Patient Harm Events
How to Avoid Communication Errors
By Michael Astion, MD, PhD |
Failing to address errors or using euphemisms to describe them, not only confuses laboratory staff, but also defeats the goal of improving quality. |
Risks Associated with Laboratory Informatics
Avoiding the Pitfalls that Can Harm Patients
By Michael Yu, MBA, MLS(ASCP) |
To increase productivity and improve patient care, labs have turned to advanced informatics systems. But leveraging these tools from various sources has the potential to introduce unexpected errors that can harm patients. |
Making Sense of Genetic Tests
How Genetic Counselors Can Decrease Test Order Errors
By Christine Miller, MS, LCGC |
Genetic counselors can help reduce test order errors and ensure that patients receive appropriate, cost-effective testing. |
The Contribution of Genetic Counselors to Healthcare
By Peggy A. Ahlin, BS, MT(ASCP) |
The explosion of genetic testing and its complexities has created a need for genetic counselors with specific credentials to guide practitioners in the test ordering process. |
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