Regional Events

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Chérie Petersen

Communication Biohazard

The laboratory plays an invaluable and enormously significant role in health care. Laboratory professionals’ posses highly specialized expertise, experience, and skills, which are the cornerstone of optimal patient care. Did you know that 75 to 85 percent of the diagnostic information used in treating a patient during an episode of care comes from laboratory information? This same data comprises 90 to 95 percent of the patient’s medical record. Amazingly, the laboratory provides this tremendous contribution to patient care for only 3 to 5 percent of the total health care cost. Can you think of any greater, more cost-effective service being provided in health care today? Plain and simple, there just isn’t! The laboratory provides the greatest value proposition, meaning the relationship between quality and price, in health care.

Considering the impact of the laboratory’s value contribution to patient care, awareness of communication issues is more important than ever. Laboratory professionals are experts in their field; however, at times the delivery, or packaging, of their expertise can sabotage the actual value. This training session engages participants with an energetic, focused, interactive, and humorous approach which uncovers and explores some of the communication biohazard that can be pervasive within any laboratory. Attendees will have the opportunity to identify some of the communication pitfalls that occur all too frequently while developing appropriate communication strategies to align their communication delivery methods with the value of their expertise.

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David P. Jackson, MBA

Senior Vice President, ARUP Laboratories

Laboratory Planning and Current Trends: Navigating Troubled Waters

The current health care environment is in significant turmoil – new laws, struggling economy, declining reimbursement. This presentation will explain a simple approach to planning, and then apply that approach to many current trends laboratories encounter.

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Karen A. Brown, MS, MLS(ASCP)

Professor, Dept. of Pathology, University of Utah

Hematology M&Ms: The Morphology and Mystery of Leukocytes

This presentation will review core concepts in the evaluation of leukocytes on Wright-stained peripheral blood and bone marrow smears. Topics to be discussed include maturation stages of leukocyte subtypes, selected hereditary and reactive WBC conditions, and a review of the FAB (French-American-British) and WHO subgroups of acute myeloblastic leukemia. Correlation of abnormal WBC morphologic variations will be presented in a case study format.

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David G. Grenache, PhD

Medical Director, Special Chemistry Laboratory

Fetal Lung Maturity Testing: Current Challenges and Considerations

This presentation will describe the neonatal respiratory distress syndrome including its pathophysiology, management, and treatment, and provide a review of currently available laboratory tests for the assessment of fetal lung maturity. Contemporary issues that affect both laboratorians and physicians will also be described.

The Lamellar Body Count: How to Develop, Validate, and Introduce It Into Your Laboratory

The most widely used commercially available fetal lung maturity test is to be retired in 2011 leaving laboratorians wondering what to replace it with. This presentation will describe the use of the lamellar body count test for the assessment of fetal lung maturity. Topics to be covered include the clinical utility of the test and how to properly validate and implement this non-FDA cleared laboratory developed test.

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Jo D Fontenot, MS, MT (ASCP)

Presentation information coming soon.

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Lucinda Manning, BA, MT(ASCP), RN

Assistant Vice President, University Hospital and Clinics Transfusion Services, Immunohematology Reference Laboratory (IRL)

When Professionals Meet: Bridging the Gap Between the Laboratory and Nursing

Ms. Manning will give a comparison of the differences in learning in the laboratory and nursing professions. She will share personal examples of the struggles each profession has in understanding each other. She will also discuss practical ways to bridge the gaps in understanding between the two professions. There will be time during the presentation to discuss the issues you may be facing within your own organizations in regards to the laboratory/nursing interactions and ways to enhance those relationships. Ms. Manning encourages the audience to be interactive and to share problems as well as best practices and successes in bridging the gap between these two professions.

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David G. Grenache, PhD

Medical Director, Special Chemistry Laboratory

Fetal Lung Maturity Testing: Current Challenges and Considerations

This presentation will describe the neonatal respiratory distress syndrome including its pathophysiology, management, and treatment, and provide a review of currently available laboratory tests for the assessment of fetal lung maturity. Contemporary issues that affect both laboratorians and physicians will also be described.

The Lamellar Body Count: How to Develop, Validate, and Introduce It Into Your Laboratory

The most widely used commercially available fetal lung maturity test is to be retired in 2011 leaving laboratorians wondering what to replace it with. This presentation will describe the use of the lamellar body count test for the assessment of fetal lung maturity. Topics to be covered include the clinical utility of the test and how to properly validate and implement this non-FDA cleared laboratory developed test.

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Gwendolyn A. McMillin, PhD

Associate Professor, Pathology, University of Utah
Medical Director, Toxicology, ARUP Laboratories

Drug Testing for Chronic Pain Management Patients

Drug testing to qualify patients for drug therapy, and to evaluate adherence to the treatment plan has become routine for chronic pain management clinics. Unfortunately, such drug testing is not standardized, making selection of the best test(s) and interpretation of results challenging. This presentation will compare and contrast current technologies for drug testing with emphasis on application to the management of chronic pain patients.

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David Jackson, MD, MS

Senior VP, Strategic Planning, ARUP Laboratories

Laboratory Planning and Current Trends: Navigating Troubled Waters

The current health care environment is in significant turmoil – new laws, struggling economy, declining reimbursement. This presentation will explain a simple approach to planning, and then apply that approach to many current trends laboratories encounter.