Abbott Focuses on the Importance of Information Management and Automation at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry Lab Expo

ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, July 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) will feature new solutions to improve data management and automation at this year's American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) annual meeting, July 15-19, in Los Angeles, Calif. Solutions to further enhance efficiency and workflow in today's laboratories will be the focal point of the Abbott exhibit.

"Today, laboratories are facing increased testing workloads, staff shortages and budget constraints," said Brian Blaser, executive vice president, Diagnostics Products, Abbott. "To help offset these challenges, Abbott provides high-quality, reliable solutions that enable laboratories to become more productive and deliver faster, more accurate results to improve patient outcomes. At AACC, Abbott will present many of the solutions we offer our customers, including informatics and processes to streamline operations and enhance workflow."

Debuting on the AACC show floor will be Abbott's informatics solution, OneLab, a novel, integrated Web-based software platform to manage information flowing through the lab. Abbott will also showcase Accelerator a3600 and p540, two of the latest automation solutions, which help labs to improve efficiency and workflow. All of these solutions will be available to labs across the United States in the coming months, but attendees will get a preview at the meeting. OneLab is currently available in select countries.

Additionally, Abbott will feature its expansive molecular diagnostic and point-of-care offerings. The Abbott m2000, an automated system that integrates sample preparation and extraction with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and detection technology, will be demonstrated at the Expo. And, Abbott will highlight five new advanced quality features on its leading i-STAT®  handheld blood analyzer, designed to help hospitals better manage their point-of-care testing programs and support compliance with changing laboratory regulations.

Key Abbott Workshops

Note: All sessions will be held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, San Francisco Room. Times listed are Pacific Time.  

• Tuesday, July 17, 7:00 a.m.: James Westgard, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin; Joseph Litten, Ph.D., technical and developmental manager, Winchester Medical Center; and Khosrow Adeli, Ph.D., professor, University of Toronto, will headline a workshop entitled "Clinical Chemistry Current Events: Sigma Metrics Driven Quality Management in the Clinical Laboratory and Advances in Pediatric Intervals." Dr. Westgard and Dr. Litten will describe how Six Sigma concepts and metrics provide guidance to validate and monitor assay quality in the laboratory to positively influence patient care. Dr. Adeli will describe a unique Canadian national program that has established reference intervals for ARCHITECT clinical chemistry analytes and immunoassays for children from birth to 18 years of age.
• Tuesday, July 17, 6:00 p.m.: HIV combination assays, also known as fourth-generation HIV tests, significantly reduce the time period during which newly infected individuals could be misdiagnosed. In the workshop entitled "From the Laboratory to the Clinician: Bridging the Gap from HIV Diagnostics to Patient Management," Mark Pandori, Ph.D., director, San Francisco Department of Public Health Laboratory; Neil Parkin, Ph.D., executive director, Data First Consulting; and Anthony Mills, M.D., medical director, Anthony Mills, MD, Inc., and assistant professor of clinical medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will provide an overview of current assays used for diagnosing and monitoring HIV, highlight the new HIV-testing algorithms, and showcase the physician's perspective on the use of immunoassay and molecular assay results in clinical practice.
• Wednesday, July 18, 7:00 a.m.: Labs are seeing an increase in vitamin D testing volume due to recent studies that show the critical role of vitamin D in several disease states.

During the workshop entitled "Vitamin D Testing – Bringing Performance and Quality to the Lab," a panel of experts including Hossein Sadrzadeh, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Cynthia Johnson, BS, MT, CLS Technical Supervisor, Drug Analysis and Biochemical Genetics, University of Minnesota Medical Center; and Sten Westgard, director of client services, Westgard QC, will highlight the importance of vitamin D in health and describe the performance of automated 25-OH vitamin D immunoassays regarding precision and comparison to Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry tests.

Abbott will present 23 scientific posters and oral presentations in the AACC scientific program. Ten posters cover cardiac markers, such as troponin and galectin-3, and 13 focus on the performance of several clinical chemistry assays as well as on important disease states, such as transplant, endocrine, metabolic, and congenitals.  

The Abbott exhibit features main-stage lectures from prominent leaders in laboratory medicine which are scheduled throughout the meeting. A complete list of Abbott's posters, workshops and presentations can be found at www.abbottdiagnostics.com. Other materials and information will be available at Abbott's booth (#1323).

About Abbott Diagnostics

Abbott is a global leader in in vitro diagnostics and offers a broad range of innovative instrument systems and tests for hospitals, reference labs, molecular labs, blood banks, physician offices and clinics. With more than 22,000 customers in more than 100 countries, Abbott's diagnostic products offer customers automation, convenience, bedside testing, cost effectiveness and flexibility. Abbott has helped transform the practice of medical diagnosis from an art to a science through the company's commitment to improving patient care and lowering costs.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs approximately 91,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.

Abbott's information and news releases are available on the company's Web site at www.abbott.com.