Blogs

The Essence: The Best of December 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 4 days ago
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Does your laboratory measure free prostate specific antigen (PSA)?" to “What is your best strategy for planning a project timeline?". Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in December. What to Note About Free PSA @David Alter, MD DABCC Does your laboratory measure free prostate specific antigen (PSA)? Read and participate in this in-depth discussion that highlights many significant aspects of ordering, performing, and assessing free PSA tests in labs.   Implementing ...
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The Essence: The Best of November 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 12-09-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Has your institution seen a decline in prenatal screening? " to “Is it acceptable to dilute a quality control sample if it falls over the analytical measurement range?". Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in November. Screening Test Decline – What Now? One laboratory’s volume of prenatal screening has significantly declined within the past 2 years. With concern over maintaining medians, new approaches must be considered for screening tests. Has your institution seen this same ...
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The Essence: The Best of October 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 11-11-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Do you have any helpful tips for using osmometers?" to “What do to when a patient has low HbA1c?” Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in October. Useful Tips for Implementing New Instruments Implementing new instruments in the lab can be tricky when laboratorians aren’t familiar with the new technology. Specifically, for osmometers, there are procedures that need to be done properly in order to receive consistent test results. Do you have any helpful tips for use of this instrument? ...
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The Essence: The Best of September 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 10-14-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Which COVID-19 test provides the most accurate results?" to “With polyethylene glycol (PEG) being used in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, what do we know about how it is broken down within a patient’s body?” Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in September. PCR vs. Antigen Testing for COVID-19 One of the more common concerns surrounding testing for COVID-19 is the type of test needed for the most accurate results. In response to a question about PCR and antigen tests, Arterians weigh ...
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The Essence: The Best of August 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 09-09-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "What are some of the unwritten duties of being a medical director?" to “Can a denosumab treatment cause interferences with serum protein electrophoresis?”. Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in August. Not Just a Laboratory Medical Director Calling all laboratory medical directors – What are some of the unwritten duties of your role? In addition to the traditional job responsibilities, there are many tasks that lab medical directors acquire when working in a hospital setting that ...
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The Essence: The Best of July 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 09-09-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. In July, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Hemolysis or not?" to “Should medical education be incorporated into patient portals?”. Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in July. Hemolysis or Not? Hemolysis in patient specimens has a history of being a challenging topic between laboratories and emergency department staff. Arterians discuss their opinions on why it has become problematic and the best solution to solve this issue. What is your approach to this issue?   Guidance on Reference Intervals When reference intervals ...
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The Essence: The Best of June 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 07-08-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Where do you stand on the laboratory harmonization debate?" to “How do labs complete proficiency testing (PT) for sO2?”. Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in June. Harmonization Across the Globe “Laboratory harmonization is not just a need but a necessity in the pandemic era,” according to Arterarians. Many believe the U.S. is overdue not only to harmonize more assays, but convert to using a metrological measurement and reporting system of SI units like other countries. Where ...
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The Essence: The Best of April 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 06-03-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. In April, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Have patients developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after being vaccinated?" to “Does a sickle cell trait have an effect on total glycated hemoglobin test results?”. Read on for the most discussed on the Artery in April. Testing after SARS-CoV-2 Vaccinations With vaccinations underway, patients are curious to know if they have developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after being vaccinated. The question posted on the Artery sparked conversation about what kind of testing should be done on vaccinated ...
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The Essence: The Best of February 2021

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 03-09-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Have You Adjusted Your Lab’s Reference Intervals to Accommodate a New Instrument?" to “How Much Can Labs Reduce Inpatient Non-Sendout Ordering?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in February. Have You Adjusted Your Lab’s Reference Intervals to Accommodate a New Instrument? Initiated by @Matthew Wasco, MD Switching to new instruments can cause laboratorians to consider adjusting their reference intervals to accept ranges suggested by the manufacturers. But ...
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The Essence: The Best of December 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 01-07-2021
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Will FDA or CDC be releasing guidance on how lab professionals can assess immune status in people who receive the COVID-19 vaccine?" to “eGFR Calculations and DEI?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in December. Assessing Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccinations Initiated by @Jack Maggiore, PhD, MT(ASCP), DABCC, FAACC Will FDA or CDC be releasing guidance on how lab professionals can assess immune status in people who receive the COVID-19 vaccine? Respondents ...
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The Essence: The Best of November 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 12-09-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "Does Your Lab Receive an Overwhelming Number of Calls from Nurses?" to “Should Vaccination of People with Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies be Temporarily Deferred?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in November. Increased Phone Calls Initiated by @Shelley D’Attilio, MT (ASCP)   One lab is being crushed by telephone calls from nursing staff looking for the status of SARS-CoV-2 tests and is wondering if other labs have the same problem and what they’ve ...
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The Essence: The Best of October 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 11-06-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from "For what length of time do SARS-CoV-2-positive patients continue to shed virus?" to “What would a CAP inspector do if a lab were not following the manufacturer’s SOP/recommendations for molecular SARS-CoV-2 methods with FDA EUAs”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in October. Drug Testing in Oral Fluid Initiated by @Paul Davis, NRCC, ABFT When labs test for cocaine in oral fluid, should they test for cocaine, benzoylecgonine (BE), or both? One respondent says ...
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The Essence: The Best of September 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 10-01-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from 'How to Determine if a [COVID-19] Positive Result is False?' to “[Does] Anyone Use Separate Reference Ranges for Serum and Whole Blood Ionized Calcium?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in September. False Positives Rapid Testing in Hospital Initiated by @Gerard Abate, MD One Artery user has a COVID-19 patient who, after three weeks of hospitalization, tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 in the central lab, but tested positive with a rapid test. He is wondering ...
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The Essence: The Best of August 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 09-02-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “Are there formal guidelines on pre-surgical procedure COVID testing?” to “Adopting pooled COVID testing- does reporting overwhelm your staff?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in August. Arterial Blood Samples for Tests Initiated by @Qing Meng, PhD, MD, DABCC, FAACC One lab has learned that most of the blood samples they receive are arterial and not venous, leading them to wonder if their tests would be considered lab-developed tests, since most of their chemistry ...
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The Essence: The Best of July 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 08-03-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “How Effective Would it be to Implement Antigen-Based COVID-19 Point-of-Care Testing for Airport Arrivals?” to “What Do Other Lab Professionals Think About Preheating COVID-19 Serum Samples Prior to Running Serology IgG and IgM?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in July. Antigen-based POC COVID-19 Test Initiated by @Vivek Pant, MD How effective would it be to implement antigen-based COVID-19 point-of-care testing for airport arrivals? Although antigen tests ...
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The Essence: The Best of June 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 07-02-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “Should COVID Serology Positives Be Confirmed?” to “Do Any Labs Have Guidance or a Policy for Pooling Samples for SARS-CoV-2 PCR Testing?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in June. Should COVID Serology Positives Be Confirmed? Initiated by @Charles Beavers, MD Given the high probability of encountering false positives with serology, is anyone considering confirmation testing with another antigen (e.g. spike vs. nucleocapsid antibodies)? One respondent says ...
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The Essence: The Best of May 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 06-04-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “Serum or plasma?” to “Why is COVID more frequent in men than in women?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in May. Drive Up Phlebotomy Initiated by @Alison Woodworth, PhD, DABCC, FAACC With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one institute has been asked to set up a drive up phlebotomy service and is wondering if others are doing the same. One respondent’s institute is: They first screen patients with an IR thermometer at the entrance to the parking garage. Patients ...
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The Essence: The Best of April 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 05-06-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “Are Early Serological Markers Necessary?” to “Should We Test Surgery Patients for COVID-19 on a Pre-op Basis?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in April. Pneumatic Tube System for COVID Samples Initiated by @Kathryn Lloyd, MD Should pneumatic tube systems be used for delivering COVID-19 specimens to the lab? CDC’s website advises against transporting respiratory COVID-19 specimens via pneumatic tube, while in a call, the agency advised against using tube ...
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The Essence: The Best of March 2020

By Anne-Margaret Olsson posted 04-08-2020
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The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “How Do You Flag Send-Out Tests in Your EMR?” to “Masking in the Lab?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in March. Hemoglobin A1c Flags and Unusual Results Initiated by @Matthew Wasco, MD A lab recently implemented a new HbA1c electrophoresis assay, and one of the flags that has popped up more than others is a broad peak of A1c. What does this finding mean? Respondents say possible causes could include an interfering hemoglobin fragment, a rare post-translational ...
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UPDATE: AACC Actions on COVID-19

By Carmen Wiley, PhD, DABCC, FAACC posted 04-03-2020
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The essential work of clinical laboratory professionals could never be clearer than it is now, as the coronavirus pandemic tightens its grip in the U.S. and in countries worldwide. AACC members have been diligently and determinedly developing, validating, and implementing SARS-CoV-2 tests while also responding to the surge in diagnostic testing from the mounting influx of patients with COVID-19 illness. Our Policy and External Affairs Core Committee has been working closely with me and the AACC staff to assess this ever-changing situation. We will continue to proactively advocate for you to efficiently develop and perform SARS-CoV-2 tests and to raise public ...
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