March 28, 2011

A recent industry article summarized the future of in vitro diagnostics as one "buffeted by uncertainty and unstable economic forces"[1].  In the article, a broad survey indicated that administrators and managers from the U.S. lab market are concerned about a variety of things, but especially about healthcare reform legislation.  Whether reform leads to an increase in costs, additional regulatory oversight, or general economic hardship, the overall feeling is that the status quo will not work in the future.  As we at Nexus travel around the world working with laboratories, we hear the same concerns, and the challenges facing countries like the UK are just as, if not more, pressing than what we see in U.S. labs.

Another article stated that the uncertainty of legislative changes would force managers to develop a "deeper and more detailed knowledge of the laboratory's economic structure" and "maintaining the status quo will be a losing battle"[2].

These articles have the same tone, essentially saying that administrators and managers must think progressively to keep up with the macroeconomic changes that are coming down the pike.  Of interest is that the first article was written in 2011.  The second article was written in 1983.

Reading these articles reminds us that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  In 1983 the dreaded acronyms were DRG, HMO and PPO.  More... Read the Full Article