Technological advancements in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases offer greater accuracy, portability, simplicity and cost-effectiveness. These technological advancements creative new challenges for how to best delivery these services and integrate them into laboratory medicine. Other than microbiology laboratories, should other points of service be considered. This point-counter point session will debate whether molecular testing for infectious diseases should be performed in the microbiology laboratory or can be performed throughout the clinical laboratory. Dr. Ledeboer will argue that while molecular techniques are shared among many areas of pathology, the expertise for interpretation of infectious disease testing is within microbiology. Dr. Nolte will provide the rationale and supporting arguments for decentralization of molecular infectious disease testing.
Nathan Ledeboer, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Frederick Nolte, PhD, Medical Univ of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Objectives:
- Describe the challenges and opportunities that advancements in molecular technology have created for delivery and integration of molecular microbiology testing into laboratory medicine.
- Describe advantages and disadvantages of performing molecular microbiology testing in different laboratory sections.
- Discuss how microbiologists can remain engaged with molecular microbiology testing regardless of the point of service.
Duration: 1.25 hr
Recording Date: November 8, 2019
CME/CMLE credit: 1.25 hr
Last day to purchase course and CE claim credit: December 24, 2022
