Critical Values - January 2009 - (Page 17) Volume 2 • Issue 1 • January 2009 Kathleen (Kay) Doyle, PhD, MT(ASCP)CM Member, ASCP Communications Committee Professor, Program Director, and Chair of the Department of Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA Expertise: Blood banking Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases Laboratory staffing shortage Jo Anne B. Edwards, MEd, MT(ASCP) Member, ASCP Communications Committee Reno, NV Expertise: Laboratory Management Laboratory coding Phlebotomy Irina Lutinger, MPH, MASCP, H(ASCP)DLM, FACHE Member, ASCP Communications Committee Senior Administrator and Director of Clinical Labs, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Expertise: Information technology Laboratory automation Laboratory staffing shortage Andrea Bennett, MPH, MT(ASCP) ASCP Senior Program Manager for Public Policy, Washington, DC Expertise: Policy Workforce SCP opens its 2008–2009 media campaign to raise awareness of pathology and laboratory medicine with the introduction of a media spokespersons network. The spokespersons, who will represent the Society to the news media and public, are select ASCP officers, members of the new ASCP Communications Committee, and one ASCP staff member who is an ASCP-certified medical technologist who continues to work part-time in a hospital laboratory. Throughout the year, and especially during National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (Lab Week), ASCP spokespersons will tell the story of pathologists and laboratory professionals–the unsung heroes working behind the scenes, solving medical mysteries, and providing essential information for disease diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. These spokespersons will raise the visibility of rewarding careers in pathology and laboratory medicine, one of the fastest growing fields in health care today. In these tough economic times, students are looking for careers with prospects for growth and long-term stability. Technology is changing the way diseases are diagnosed and treated, and pathologists and laboratory professionals are in the best position to explain how and why. Molecular testing, laboratory informatics, and the electronic health record will be hot topics, and ASCP spokespersons will share their expertise in these and other issues of compelling public interest. Spokespersons also will tell the story about how, for example, ASCP is making a difference around the world A by providing training and support for HIV/AIDS testing in resource-poor countries, and providing international certification for laboratory professionals in 28 countries. “Pathologists and laboratory professionals provide an essential service to health care, and yet few people know who we are or what we do,” said Dave Glenn, MT(ASCP)CM, chief executive officer of Pathology Services, P.C., in North Platte, Nebraska, and chair of the ASCP Communications Committee. “Seventy percent of the information used in diagnosing and treating patients originates in the laboratory. It is time we look up from the microscopes and analyzers and let the public know the value we bring to health care.” Lab Week is scheduled for April 19–25, 2009, and “Laboratory Professionals Get Results” is the theme. This is an excellent time for all members to build on the theme and deliver the good word about pathology and laboratory medicine within both their hospital and their community. ASCP’s Lab Week Planning Guide is now available and has numerous ideas and resources for a successful celebration. Additional resources are available at www.ascp.org/ MainMenu/laboratoryprofessionals/LabWeek.aspx. The new Communications Committee, an outgrowth of the Task Force on Communication, is charged with ensuring both the short- and long-term implementation of the task force’s recommendations. Members for the 2008-2009 year are Glenn; Kathleen (Kay) Doyle, PhD, MT(ASCP)CM; Jo Anne Edwards, MEd, MT(ASCP); Irina Lutinger, MPH, MASCP, H(ASCP)DLM, FACHE; Anna Moran, MD, FASCP; and LoAnn Peterson, MD, MASCP. 17 http://www.ascp.org/MainMenu/laboratoryprofessionals/LabWeek.aspx http://www.ascp.org/MainMenu/laboratoryprofessionals/LabWeek.aspx
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