Lab Solutions Summit A Virtual Conference

Clinical laboratorians, in the comfort of their homes, offices, or even on the go, shortly will have the opportunity to tune in to AACC’s virtual conference, “Lab Solutions Summit: Value-based Clinical Lab Models” and hear real-world clinical lab success stories from their peers across the globe.

The summit takes place Sept. 16-17 and will feature stories and projects from laboratorians who have adopted cost-effective analyses, processes, and testing strategies that have led to improved patient care. The event also includes interactive poster sessions, vendor exhibits, and the opportunity to earn continuing education credits.

“It's always been important for labs to demonstrate and optimize the value of their contribution to patient care,” said Lab Solutions Summit Chair Michael J. Hallworth, FRCP. “But in a highly resource-limited environment where the focus across the world is now on the patient experience, and reimbursement policies that directly reward demonstrable improvements in patient care or more cost-effective delivery of services, it is now vital that labs embrace the shift from more to better, and become adept at demonstrating the links between lab testing and better outcomes.”

Hallworth led a team of AACC members and staff to plan the program. He also chairs an International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine task force on the value of laboratory medicine in improving clinical management and outcomes.

Although it’s a virtual environment, laboratorians who participate in the summit will be able to engage with world-class thought leaders, Hallworth noted. Participants can chat online with speakers and other participants, ask questions, and share in discussions. They also will be able to interact with companies in the virtual exhibition area and view poster abstracts.

“Speakers at the conference will give the background on why the shift from volume to value is taking place, and they’ll describe current initiatives helping laboratorians to increase the value of what they do every day. Lab Solutions Summit attendees also will learn how to evaluate new tests and design outcome studies with built-in added-value metrics, to develop the evidence base that supports the vital role of laboratory medicine,” Hallworth told CLN Stat.

Sessions will cover strategies for appropriate test utilization, strategies and solutions for following up on test results, performing evidence-based test evaluation, and using lab data for outcomes improvement initiatives.

The aim of this summit is “to give participants the tools they need and the inspiration to devise practical projects in their own laboratories that will have a positive impact on patient outcomes and health care delivery,” according to Hallworth.