In July 2023, we changed our name from AACC (short for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) to the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). The following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name. It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
2014 Outstanding Contributions in Education
Michael L. Astion, MD, PhD
Dr. Astion is medical director in the department of laboratories at Seattle Children's Hospital and clinical professor of laboratory medicine at the University of Washington. For almost two decades he was the director of reference laboratory services at the University of Washington. His work is divided among clinical service, teaching,, and research and development. He has authored more than 20 software titles, 40 peer-reviewed papers, and 40 editorials. His software, which has been translated into several languages, includes both laboratory tutorials and competency assessment exams. These materials are now used by more than 40,000 clinical laboratory workers annually in 1500 labs as part of the Medical Training Solutions laboratory training library. He is the editor of Patient Safety Focus, which appears quarterly in the AACC's Clinical Laboratory News. He is currently working with the insurance industry to create utilization management rules for clinical laboratory testing. He is one of the founders of the Pediatric Laboratory Utilization Guidance Service (PLUGS), which helps pediatric hospitals and clinics increase the value of lab testing. Dr. Astion is a frequent speaker at professional meetings on issues related to test utilization, test interpretation, laboratory economics and outreach, and medical errors. He has received the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Theriot Award for Excellence in Media twice for his educational software. He has received AACC awards for outstanding contributions to patient safety and to management science. A frequent winner of the AACC outstanding speaker award, Dr. Astion has been active in the AACC, including as a symposium organizer for the 2005 Annual Meeting Organizing Committee and head of the patient safety taskforce.
2006 Award for Outstanding Clinical Laboratory Contributions to Patient Safety
Dr. Astion is a clinical pathologist who is an associate professor and director of reference laboratory services in the University of Washington, Department of Laboratory Medicine in Seattle, WA. His career is equally divided between teaching, clinical service, and research and development.
He has authored more than 20 software titles and more than 30 papers. His software includes both laboratory tutorials and competency assessment exams, and these materials are now used by more than 15,000 clinical laboratory workers each year.
He is the editor-in-chief of Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety, a newsletter dedicated to improving laboratory quality.
Dr. Astion is a frequent speaker at professional meetings, where he lectures on issues related to laboratory test interpretation, autoantibody testing, medical errors, medical informatics, and competency assessment. His previous awards include the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science's Theriot Award for Excellence in Media, which he received twice for his educational software.
A frequent winner of the AACC outstanding speaker award, Dr. Astion has been active in AACC, including as a symposium organizer on the 2005 Annual Meeting Organizing Committee. He currently heads the AACC patient safety task force.