Medical Laboratory Observer articles from November 2005

Medical Laboratory Observer archives from November 2005

What a meth.(Methamphetamine abuse)(Editorial)
November 1, 2005... Drugs-of-abuse testing is one of MLO's important topics this month. And from news accounts lately, it is an area that may keep medical labs, among other healthcare facilities, on their toes. A famous quotation--"Give me Librium, or give me...

Readers respond.(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... More news from Katrina Editor's Note: MLO continues to receive responses from readers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and, now, Hurricane Rita. We share here, with their permission, the experiences of several of them, along with...

Readers respond: in it for the long haul.(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... Thank you for your concerns and prayers!! We are located in central Alabama and did not receive the damage incurred on the coast. The west Gulf Coast region of Alabama had severe damage to property but their lives were spared. Here, we have...

Readers respond: lab "troopers".(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... Thanks for your words of encouragement and prayers. Our hospital and lab are up and have been up throughout this disaster. Our entire staff, especially those in the lab, have been troopers and have put patient care first. We are all trying to...

Readers respond: cleaning the "hobby" closet.(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... I loved this editorial ["'Somethings' gotta give," MLO, September 2005, p. 4]. As a medical laboratory technologist and administrator, I could relate to your article, especially those "things" mentioned in your article as "one day I will get...

Readers respond: HAM it up.(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... I am at the moment reading from your journal, MLO (September 2005 issue). I just wanted to drop a note to tell you that I really enjoyed '''Somethings' gotta give" [p.4]. Your editorial really made me smile a lot. I feel like that is the story...

Readers respond: HAM "toys".(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... It is easier than ever to get an amateur radio license, but it will cost you (time and money for all the toys). The W6ROQ is my "call sign," but I must admit I went to the Internet for information from Florida when Katrina was going to pass...

Readers respond: HAMs get involved.(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... After reading your editorial opinion, if you REALLY want to get a HAM license, that can be arranged. That is partly how I got involved in all of this [see MLO September 2005, "Prepare for a major disaster: the laboratory and beyond," p. 28] to...

More universities offer oral HIV test.(Human Immuno Virus)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... More universities offer oral HIV test. West Virginia University is the latest of a growing number of colleges and universities to offer students an orally administered HIV test, says the Associated Press. Requiring no blood work or needles, the...

U.S. health officials urge universal flu shots.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... U.S. health officials urge universal flu shots. Local and state health officials said during a recent phone news conference held by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) that every person in the United States...

First responders need wireless communication.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... First responders need wireless communication. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin says that the nation's emergency first responders need a mobile, wireless system that allows them to talk to each other in times of crisis...

Gene analysis predicts cancer therapy response.(Testing)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Gene analysis predicts cancer therapy response. A new Swedish study indicates that DNA microarray technology can help predict a breast-cancer patient's potential response to therapy. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm wrote...

Blood test indicates epileptic seizure.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Blood test indicates epileptic seizure. A blood test that measures levels of a hormone called prolactin can determine if a person has suffered an epileptic seizure. A new guideline on the test was published in the Sept. 13, 2005, issue of...

Conferences.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
November 1, 2005... Rescheduled conference. The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has rescheduled its Dec. 10-13, 2005, Annual Meeting from New Orleans to the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, as a result of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. For...

Optometrists can serve as lab directors.(Education)
November 1, 2005... Optometrists can serve as lab directors. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote in a recent letter to state survey agency directors that 1) optometrists with a doctor of optometry degree may qualify as lab directors performing...

State of the art: contemporary biomarkers of alcohol consumption.(Cover Story)
November 1, 2005... The new century is experiencing an expansive boost in the area of alcohol-abuse diagnosis. New laboratory tools are emerging that show better performance than traditional biomarkers for the detection and monitoring of excessive drinking. Blood...

CE test on CONTEMPORARY BIOMARKERS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.(continuing education)
November 1, 2005... MLO and Northern Illinois University (NIU), DeKalb, IL, are co-sponsors in offering continuing education units (CEUs) for this issue's article on CONTEMPORARY BIOMARKERS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. CEUs or contact hours are granted by the College...

Transfusion safety: what has been done; what is still needed?(clinical issues)
November 1, 2005... The National Blood Data Resource Center reports that 29 million units of blood components are transfused to 4.9 million patients annually. (1) Such a large number of transfused patients mandates that the scientific community continuously strive...

Hospital finance: a primer for the 'wannabe' lab manager.
November 1, 2005... The cornerstone to any successful business is its financial structure. The concept is no different for hospital laboratories than for other businesses. Most laboratorians, however, did not enter the field of laboratory medicine with the idea of...

Olympus' Steve Wasserman champions blood safety.(Executive snapshot)
November 1, 2005... Blood-banking improvements: On the donor side, advances in infectious disease testing (i.e., WNV, NAT, bacterial contamination) have increased the safety of blood transfusions. In the hospitals' transfusion service, automated blood-group...

Scholarship moves MLT toward dream to help Sudan.(medical laboratory technician)
November 1, 2005... John Agou is the kind of person you want to help. A Sudanese native who experienced the loss of his parents and much of his village to political violence, Agou was determined to make his way to the United States. He nourishes a dream to...

Addressing management issues.(Management Q&A)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... New supervisor needs advice Q I was recently promoted to a supervisory position in our lab. One of the key people I supervise has more experience than I, but she was not interested in the position. She recently overruled some of my early...

Answering your questions.(The Center for Phlebotomy Education Inc.)(Oregon Health & Science University)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... Standards for transporting specimens Q What are the standards for transporting blood and body fluid from doctors' offices and nursing homes to the laboratory by our courier? A The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S....

New CLIAC Chair leads lively agenda.(Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee)
November 1, 2005... The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee (CLIAC) met in Atlanta, Sept. 7-8, 2005, for updates from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Centers for Disease Control...

Natural disaster prompts rethinking responsibility.
November 1, 2005... Q Looking at the disaster following Hurricane Katrina has gotten our lab to thinking: What is our legal responsibility to help patients and provide information during a natural disaster? A A good question--and one without a clear answer....

Laboratory information systems: newly released version.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... A feature-packed Quality Control Module, v. 7.2, for the company's laboratory information system is now available. New features allow user-defined validation rules, six different types of Mean assignments, and user-defined QC Order panels that...

Laboratory information systems: blood-bank solutions.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... Prelude is designed to automate and manage the blood-donation process. The system contains a self-administered donor interview, which guides the donor through the health-history process. It has the capability to support multilingual and...

Laboratory information systems: multiuser system.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... The LabPak series has the ability to go from single instrument management to a multiuser, multiinstrument, multilocation system using the same basic program structure. All LabPak products have full QC including Levey-Jennings plots and Westgard...

Laboratory information systems: integrated suite linking.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... The SoftLab integrated suite of products for large hospitals and laboratories simplifies complex operating environments where speed, accuracy, and cost are important considerations. The fully integrated system provides a seamless interface that...

Laboratory information systems: automate business processes.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... The PathNet General Laboratory solution fully automates clinical, financial, and managerial processes associated with the chemistry, hematology, coagulation, urinalysis, immunology/serology, and toxicology sections of the clinical lab. All...

Laboratory information systems: Transfusion module available.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... The Centricity Ultra LIS integrated Transfusion Medicine (TM) module is now available. Existing clients can now upgrade to include this functionality. Other facilities can procure this fully integrated, single-database information system for...

Laboratory information systems: easy-to-use innovations.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... AutoLims product suite features object-oriented design and intelligent use of a single database. It supports all disciplines and stages of the clinical testing process. AutoLims' simplicity of use is achieved through levels of client...

Laboratory information systems: high-performance IS.(Product focus)
November 1, 2005... This comprehensive, high-performance information system--Misys Laboratory--manages specimen data from requisition entry through specimen tracking to final cumulative report production. This multimodule system includes blood-bank and...

MRSA detection.(BBL CHROMagar)(BD Diagnostics)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The FDA-approved BBL CHROMagar MRSA is a prepared plate medium that simplifies the process, decrease the time to result, and offers high sensitivity and specificity for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus identification. It allows for...

LDL subfractionation.(Industry spotlight)
November 1, 2005... The Lipoprint System is the only FDA-cleared method for the separation and measurement of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) subfractions. The system comes with electrophoresis chamber, power source, digital scanner, iMac computer (with proprietary...

Urine Chemistry Analyzer.(Industry spotlight)
November 1, 2005... The AUTION MAX AZ-4280 Automated Urine Chemistry Analyzer provides a 12-test profile, including nine chemistries, specific gravity by refractometer, color, and clarity. This benchtop analyzer can operate with batches of 60 to 210 patient...

Air-filtration catalog.(Industry spotlight)
November 1, 2005... The expanded 32-page, full-color general products catalog provides an overview of air-filter systems and equipment and contains three primary application areas: comfort air (HVAC) applications, clean processes (clean-room environments), and...

Infusion sets.(Industry spotlight)
November 1, 2005... MedPro Safety and Non-Safety Butterflies are high-quality winged infusion sets with a preassembled, multisample luer adapter. Each set is packaged individually and sterilized with ethylene gas. Totally latex-free, the sets comply with OSHA...

Interlab Program.(Industry spotlight)
November 1, 2005... UnityWeb, a new feature on QCNet, allows lab personnel to submit summary QC data directly into the Unity Interlaboratory Program and receive reports online. Enter the mean, standard deviation, the number of points for each test, and submit. It...

Water purification.(Industry spotlight)
November 1, 2005... The Synergy UV laboratory water purification system can convert pretreated (distillation, deionization, reverse-osmosis) water to ultrapure (Type 1) water. The easy-to-use system is suitable for low-volume lab needs such as buffers and...

Multimode reader.(TRIAD)(multimode plate readers )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The TRIAD series of multimode plate readers is composed of two readers capable of performing absorbance, luminescence, and a variety of fluorescence-detection techniques, including intensity, polarization, and time-resolved measurements. This...

HIV testing.(OraQuick)(Abbott Diagnostics)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The OraQuick ADVANCE Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test is a single-use, qualitative immunoassay to detect antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2 in oral fluid, finger-stick whole blood, venipuncture whole blood, and plasma specimens. This portable,...

Blood transfusion: advocacy, adequacy, and safety.
November 1, 2005... When the United States discovered over 20 years ago that patients dependent on blood and component therapy could become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through blood transfusions, it paid significant attention to reducing...

OTC and Rx drugs require rapid screen in overdose.(over-the-counter )
November 1, 2005... Acetaminophen [paracetamol or n-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP)]--a common over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic--is found in more than 100 common OTC prescription products. Additionally, in 2003, more than 144 million prescriptions were written in the...