A monthly update on activities occurring on behalf of the members of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
Society News Now
A monthly update on activities occurring on behalf of the members of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
Issue 4 December 2014
In this Issue:
November Board of Directors Meeting │ Clinical Laboratory Science Journal – Electronic format │ Government Affairs │ FDA Guidance on Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) │ Promotion of the Profession │ Membership Committee │ CMS Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests │ Patient Safety Committee │ ASCLS Logo Contest │Happy Holidays!
November Board of Directors Meeting
The ASCLS Board of Directors met by conference call on November 14, and several motions were passed. These included:
- Continued support for the Coordinating Council on the Clinical Laboratory Workforce (CCCLW)
- Investigating a system to record the President-Elect Seminar during the national meeting for those members unable to attend
- Developing a mechanism to help State Presidents mentor and monitor their volunteers in elected and appointed leadership positons, and
- Determining a means to collect a permanent, not school, e-mail address for students so we can continue to communicate with them when they graduate.
Clinical Laboratory Science Journal – Electronic format
In 2015, the CLS Journal will be published in an electronic-only format. The Board selected a publishing option that will provide a totally interactive website, with searchable manuscripts, and links to referenced material. The Table of Contents will have links to individual manuscripts and the entire journal issue can be downloaded as a pdf file.
ASCLS formed a coalition of other health care professions (AACC, occupational therapy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy and speech and language pathology) to meet with HRSA regarding the need for HRSA to communicate to Congress the need for funding for Allied Health Professions. Clinical Laboratory needs a sustained federal investment, specifically funding to recruit and retain students, grow faculty and develop curriculum.
It is anticipated that the new Republican-led Congress will try to repeal the ACA (Healthcare Reform) and the President will veto those attempts. Two areas that are likely to see action are: (1) Employer mandate provisions and thresholds; the definition of full-time is now 30 hr/wk and SSA would like to change that to 40 hr/wk. (2) Device tax – there is support for the repeal of the 2.3% excise tax on medical devices. If repealed, a plan for replacing the lost funds would need to be developed.
FDA Guidance on Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs)
The FDA will hold a public meeting related to Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) on January 8-9. Elissa Passiment and Susie Zanto will be in attendance, representing ASCLS members. ASCLS will submit comments to the proposed FDA guidance, which are due in February. If you have some specific concerns that you would like addressed in the ASCLS comments to the FDA, please forward them to Elissa Passiment at elissap@ascls.org.
The Career Recruitment Toolkit has been updated on the ASCLS website. Check it out!
ASCLS Voice articles continue to be posted in ADVANCE. Read the latest one.
ASCLS will have its own slogan for MLPW, to be used in addition to the common slogan of ‘Get Results.’ The slogan is #lab4life and will be used in a social media campaign and will appear on ASCLS merchandise.
The MC is looking at ways to engage our members who are retiring, to encourage them to continue to support the profession that has served them through the years. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience in our veteran professionals that can be a huge asset to ASCLS.
Lapsed member campaigns are on-going. The MC is very interested in learning why some members have not renewed their membership. Please forward that information to Holly Weinberg, MC Chair at roho281@aol.com.
CMS Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is convening an advisory panel to provide input on the establishment of payment rates for new tests and the factors used in determining coverage and payment processes for new clinical diagnostic laboratory tests. ASCLS has nominated 3 well-respected and well-qualified members for this panel: Judy Davis from Tennessee, Rick Panning from Minnesota, and Suzanne Butch from Michigan. ASCLS will continue to monitor this process to establish fee schedules.
The PSC is planning a publicity campaign to inform our colleagues about Patient Safety. The overall theme of the campaign is called It Is Up to Me.
The PSC is working on a P.A.C.E.® approved product to provide educational tools for MLT and MLS educators, as well as laboratory managers, that will furnish students and lab professionals with information regarding Patient Safety.
The Patient Safety Tips products are being validated in 2015. Part of the validation includes a short survey for patients to complete after they have had a chance to review the product.
Our new ASCLS tag line and strategic canvas deserve a new logo. Join your colleagues in designing how this logo will look! The new logo will be used in branding the new direction of ASCLS. Put your artistic and creative minds to work! And win a free registration to the ASCLS 2015 Annual Meeting. Click here for more information.
The leadership and staff at ASCLS wish all of you a very happy holiday season, and a very prosperous 2015!