Swine Flu, Gene Patents and Pap vs. HPV are ASCP Annual Meeting Highlights
CHICAGO – Oct. 28, 2009 –When a large pandemic like the H1N1 outbreak occurs, what happens behind the scenes in the laboratory to maintain accuracy and patient safety? When a person finds out they have the genetic makeup for cancer, what are the options? How do forensic pathologists recognize certain wounds and how do they go about working with attorneys in these matters? Is the Pap smear doomed? These and other medical laboratory questions will be explored at the 2009 American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Annual Meeting, scheduled from Oct. 28 – Nov. 1. at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chicago.
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CDC Awards ASCP $5.5 Million for Global Laboratory Outreach
CHICAGO – Aug. 27, 2009 – The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Institute for Global Outreach has been awarded $5.5 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue the Society’s collaborative work with the agency in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during 2009-10.
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President Clinton Proud to Work with ASCP in Africa
Aug. 20, 2009—The Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative and ASCP have become partners in a global project to improve the quality of laboratories in Africa. On July 27, 2009, in Kigali, Rwanda, government health officials from 13 African countries launched the first-ever push for accreditation of the continent’s medical laboratories.
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Leading Health Organizations Launch New Accreditation Process for Laboratories Across Africa
Program Aims to Strengthen Health Systems, Improve Patient Care through Better Training, Expanded Diagnostic Tests
KIGALI, Rwanda (July 27, 2009) – Government health officials from 13 African countries today launched the first-ever push for accreditation of the continent’s medical laboratories, starting a process that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Government believe will be an historic step to strengthen health systems and lead to better care for patients. more...
ASCP BOC and NCA Form Single Certification Agency
July 22, 2009—The American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (BOC) and the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA) on July 21, 2009, signed an agreement forming a single certification agency for medical laboratory professionals. The agency will be called the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC). The agreement is effective on Friday, October 23, 2009. At that time, the NCA will be dissolved as a corporation.
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Following HPV DNA Testing Guidelines Lowers Healthcare Costs, Prevents Overtreatment
June 11, 2009—Excessive testing for the human papillomavirus (HPV) may result in over-management and harmful treatment for benign conditions while minimally reducing cancer incidence, according to a recent article in the June 2009 issue of American Journal of Clinical Pathology (AJCP).
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ASCP President Joins Filmmaker to Voice Concern about Gene Patents
June 11, 2009—At age 31, Joanna Rudnick of Chicago tested positive for the BRCA genetic mutation associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The science journalist documented her personal journey to educate herself about preventive measures in the film “In the Family.” She explores family history, genetic testing, surgical options, and Myriad Genetics’ controversial patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes—which ASCP opposes as a plaintiff in the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the company and the U.S. Patent Office.
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ASCP Magazine Critical Values Earns National Award
May 15, 2009—The American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) membership magazine, Critical Values, has received a Silver EXCEL Award for Most Improved, Newsletter-to-Magazine Format, from the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP).
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ASCP Joins ACLU Lawsuit Opposing Gene Patents
May 12, 2009—The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) has joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a lawsuit challenging the legality of patents on human genes-specifically, patents covering the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Myriad Genetics, and Directors of the University of Utah Research Foundation in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on May 12. "ASCP joined this lawsuit because a fundamental tenet of ASCP is that patients come first," said ASCP President Barbara J. McKenna, MD, FASCP. "Gene patents violate this principle by creating unjustifiable monopolies on human genetic information that is critical in the diagnosis of many diseases."
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ASCP’s new Ambassador Program to Raise Awareness of Laboratory Science Field
April 20, 2009—The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) today launches National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week by announcing a new program to raise awareness of the laboratory profession among high school students. The ASCP Ambassador Program will select up to 10 newly certified laboratory professionals to share their personal stories about why they became laboratory professionals. more...
Laboratory Workforce Shortage Reaches Crisis
March 3, 2009—Half of all laboratories nationwide struggle to hire laboratory personnel. Increased competition for qualified staff and lower compensation for laboratory work were cited as major issues among others. Published in the March 2009 issue of LabMedicine, the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) Wage & Vacancy survey provides current wage data and information about the distribution of personnel within the nation’s clinical laboratory workforce and is conducted every two years. more...
ASCP Partners with Abbott and Channel One to Highlight Laboratory Professional Careers
February 24, 2009—In today’s environment, jobs that are in high demand, pay well, and have flexible hours should have long waiting lists of people ready to apply. But people cannot apply to jobs they are not aware of in professions they may not even know exist. The Chicago-based American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) has teamed up with Abbott Laboratories and Channel One to sponsor the first-place winner of a contest aimed at raising awareness of the clinical science and laboratory professional field among pre-college students. more...
Laboratory Professionals Meeting to Highlight Reducing Medical Errors Through Innovation
February 23, 2009—In this ailing economy, everyone is learning to do more with less – including hospital laboratories. How does a laboratory cut back and still provide accurate results to patients? What new technology can increase efficiency and decrease cost? How does a laboratory improve processes to ensure patient safety and responsibly use available resources? more...
ASCP-BOC to be sole provider for licensure examinations for New York State
Feb. 4, 2009 – On February 4, the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) was awarded the contract to be the sole provider of licensure examinations for medical technologists (MTs) and medical laboratory technicians (MLTs) for a period of five years by the New York State Education Department. more...
Single Certification Agency Update
December 10, 2008—The American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (BOC) and the National Certification Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA) made progress over the past month to define the terms of an agreement to form a single certification agency for clinical laboratory professionals. more...
ASCP Hot Topic: Clostridium Difficile
December 4, 2008—Painful abdominal cramping and severe diarrhea, no appetite, high fever and nausea – most would think of these symptoms as reasons to go to the hospital – not a result of having been in one. However, these are the agonizing symptoms of Clostridium Difficile (C. difficile), a national health epidemic that experts have traced to the overuse of antibiotics, improper hand-washing and other substandard sanitation practices in hospitals. more...
McKenna Installed as new ASCP President
October 16, 2008—Barbara J. McKenna, MD, FASCP was installed as the new ASCP president at the Society’s Annual Business Meeting on Thursday, October 16, in Baltimore. She has served in various capacities for the ASCP including Vice President, and Member-At-Large on the Board of Directors. more...
CDC Awards ASCP with Funding to Support PEPFAR II
September 24, 2008—The ASCP this month was awarded $3.9 million for the first year of its second five-year initiative with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue its efforts in strengthening laboratory services for the testing and monitoring of HIV/AIDS patients abroad. more...
Former ‘NewsHour’ Health Policy Analyst, HIV/AIDS Pioneer Headline ASCP Annual Meeting
September 23, 2008—Susan Dentzer, one of the nation’s most respected health policy journalists, and Robert C. Gallo, a top American HIV/AIDS researcher, will be the keynote speakers at the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Oct. 16 – 19 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. more...
ASCP-BOC International Certification Expands to 28 Countries
September 11, 2008—The American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (BOC) has expanded its global program from five countries to 28 - offering certification, lifelong education, network opportunities and other services in countries seeking to strengthen clinical laboratories. The international certification exam became reality in South Korea and the Philippines in 2006. Hong Kong, Panama and Guyana were added in 2007. more...
Major Laboratory Certification Agencies Reach Agreement to Unite
August 28, 2008—The American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (ASCP-BOC) and The National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA) have reached an agreement on the formation of a unified credentialing agency. more...
ASCP to Focus on International Certification and Membership
August 22, 2008—The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) will continue to spread its global messages about the importance of laboratory science and pathology at the 28th World Congress of Biomedical Laboratory Science in New Delhi, India, Aug. 24–28. ASCP, a partner of this event, will be on hand to discuss the organization’s unique international certification process. more...
CDC Selects ASCP to Continue Fight Against HIV/AIDS
July 31, 2008—With the President’s signing of the HIV/AIDS reauthorization bill, the ASCP is again being called on by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue its efforts in strengthening laboratory services for the testing and monitoring of HIV/AIDS patients abroad. more...
Victory at Last: Congress Overrides Bush Veto of Medicare Bill
July 17, 2008—Hours after President Bush vetoed the ASCP-supported Medicare bill on July 16, both houses of Congress overrode the veto and made the bill a law once and for all. more...
The Other Big Workforce Shortage
June 2, 2008—Like the silent killers that affect our patients, it has gone largely unnoticed by both the public and even by many who work in healthcare, because its full impact has yet to be realized—the shortage of medical laboratory professionals. more...
ASCP CAP Letter
May 21, 2008—The leaders of ASCP and CAP met recently to discuss ways we can collaborate, and we reaffirmed our commitment to working together on critical challenges and opportunities that face our specialty. more...
ASCP Announces Resident Council Subspecialty Grant Recipients
March 3, 2008—The American Society for Clinical Pathology has awarded a total of $20,000 in resident grants during the academic year 2008-2009 to defray the cost of doing elective rotations at outside institutions in fields of pathology in which the resident desires intensive exposure, especially in the form of consult material. more...
CCCLW Addresses Growing Workforce Shortage
April 18, 2008—The Coordinating Council on the Clinical Laboratory Workforce in April identified four strategic directions to address the workforce shortage: Developing a business case for increasing investment to resolve the shortage; improving the professional profile of laboratory professionals by expanding their role on the healthcare team; aligning the scope of practice by standardizing credentials and aligning curriculum; and developing effective recruitment and retention efforts. more...