BURNOUT: One in five lab professionals report being burnt out. That’s the finding from a study of 400 lab professionals commissioned by Siemens Healthineers and conducted by The Harris Group. Other findings of the survey:
– 28 percent of those over 50 want to retire next 3 to 5 years.
– 39% are dealing with limited staff
– 27% dealing with lab shortages
– 14 percent admitted they made high risk errors due to burnout.
– Academic and Research have higher satisfaction. Public labs have high workloads. Private labs have the highest burnout.
None of these challenges are easy. Siemens, as a top 10 IVD company that offers automation equipment advocated for its equipment in solving these problems. But even there, they presented a statistic from the survey that is challenging: Although automation my help with tasks, 52% fear that automation my replace their jobs, which might further delay solving the problem if concerns are not addressed.
CANNABIS USAGE AND PREGNANCY: Simply said, more new mothers are using cannabis. This per a study announced at ADLM, that cannabis use during pregnancy are far higher than previously thought, a finding that could improve efforts to identify pregnant cannabis users and inform them of potential risks. A research team from NMS labs led by Dr. Alexandria Reinhart sought to investigate the prevalence of cannabinoid exposure in utero during 2019-2023 by analyzing umbilical cord samples submitted for testing. Of the 90,384 samples tested, 44% were positive for at least one of approximately 60 analytes included in the testing panel, and cannabinoids accounted for 59% to 63% of all positive results, making them the most common drug found.
That means about 25% of cord blood sampled studies were positive for cannabinoid exposure. From a laboratory perspective, labs should be vigilant in testing so that doctors can educate patients.
On issues of automation, mass spectrometry’s increasing usage and a possible slavish adherence to troponin as a maker, you saw not just one dogma, but multiple sides and debates in the skillful use of lab tests at today’s ADLM.
MASS SPECTROMETRY GOOD AND BAD: Mass spectrometry continued to be a focus at the 2024 Elenitoba-Johnson chair of the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center made a compelling case for the use of mass spectrometry to create a wealth of proteomic data that could help healthcare professionals understand the genesis of lymphomas and drive the development of therapies. Lymphoma biomarkers, he said, represent a template through with mass spec driven proteomics for oncology is evolving. This is one of several of mass spectrometry-related sessions. Not every session related to MS technology was positive: Another ADLM session, Navigating Laboratory Errors in the Pre-analytical, Analytical and Post-analytical Phases of Testing focused on errors, and shared examples from preparation analytical and post-analytical phases of testing, including errors on MS instruments. Jacqueline Hubbard PhD, C(ASCP) DABCC, NRCC highlighted MS because it is complex and involves additional preparation steps, and challenging interpretation of results. She increased possibility of errors as mass spectrometry is used, and the need to develop better error forensics.
SUPERVISORY BURNOUT “I can’t get techs to take supervisor jobs!” There is a lot of focus on lab staff shortages and worker burnout – but what about the managers? An interesting perspective came from Siemens customer Virginia Moseley of Singing River Health at the Siemens Healthineers presser. Singing River services several hospitals and clinics in Louisiana and Alabama. She noted that when her techs see the workload of the supervisor position, they don’t want the job. This and shortages, general low morale have been features of her laboratory. The lab converted to using features such as remote supervision technology, automatic ordering, real-time reports, constant support. “My employees come in and the machines are already working.” While automation is a perceived threat to lab jobs, when employees at Singing River saw the benefits, after a year or so that perception has mostly gone away, according to Moseley.
Siemens also promoted their new ELF tests and fecal immunochemical test for GI conditions.
QUESTIONS ABOUT TROPONIN: With high-sensitivity troponin available for 20 years and offering insights into cardiac patient care, a session of experts are questioning the absolute devotion to the test. For instance, the use of high-sensitivity troponin alone to diagnose myocardial infarction. Especially to distinguish Type 1 and Type 2 of the disease. Studies and groups of studies presented indicate that the marker is better at measuring Type 1 than type 2, and a patient with Type 2 MI might actually show a low troponin. Same with myocardial injury. Said one participant “I have been part of the troponin mafia for years,” but the attitudes of using just troponin are changing. What’s the answer? One suggestion was to look for long troponin versus fragment, to isolate troponin that has broken off. Another was to use New protein biomarkers, or ratios of troponin along with BNP. Still another was to use scoring systems such as those utilized in Europe. AI tools were discussed (though AI tools that are trained on troponin may be biased towards those results!) and finally, exosome-based testing using liquid chromatography to determine the activity of troponin in a patient suffering with cardiovascular disease, rather than a static result.
All for now, plenty more to discuss later.
