title: Challenges and opportunities for medical directors in pathology and laboratory medicine: standardization, integration, and innovation.
abstract: Because the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine evolves rapidly, laboratory medical directors must constantly introduce new tests and services and continue to provide consistent, reliable results for existing tests. Innovations in laboratory medicine are frequently introduced, and the number of commercial vendors of test kits and reagents increases yearly. These innovations, however, may pose barriers to standardization and integration of laboratories and to interpretation of results generated by different laboratories. We propose a practical framework for medical directors to address the seemingly contradictory challenges of standardizing and integrating while simultaneously providing the flexibility to introduce innovations. We recommend initiating standardization first, then integration, while maintaining flexibility for innovation. As organizations strive to create effective processes to enhance value, the role of the laboratory medical director will become critical in resolving the natural tension between standardization/integration and innovation in laboratory medicine and pathology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Core Laboratory Services, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Jane C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.forename: Kevin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Bennet
authors.forename: Prathibha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Varkey
mesh_terms: D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000592:standards*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards; D010336:Pathology / Q000592:standards*; D008486:Physician Executives / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D018511:Systems Integration
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic