Laboratory Diagnosticians' News Matters

To those of you who have served on the AAVLD Committees throughout the years. The following 8 committees are Standing Committees, mandated and organized according to the AAVLD Constitution and Bylaws: Accreditation, Awards, Credentials, Membership, Nominating, Program, Communications, Strategic Planning, and AAVLD Foundation Committees.

All other committees are Special Committees or Task Forces appointed by the President, or, for joint USAHA/AAVLD committees or other joint organization committees, appointed jointly by the Presidents of each organization. Special Committees are appointed to carry out a specific charge and will not be reappointed once the task is completed.

Subcommittees may be appointed by the committee chair as deemed necessary, with approval by the President(s) when their goal is expected to take more than one year to complete.

I am pleased to appoint the following 2023 AAVLD Committee Chairs/Cochairs.   

Eric Burrough- AAVLD President

Complete committee list

The Communications Committee, previously known as the “Publications Committee,” is a Standing Committee, per AAVLD bylaws, that provides oversight/support for AAVLD communications both internally amongst members and externally with stakeholders. At the annual meeting, the committee meets for 1 hour prior to the JVDI Editorial Board meeting and in the same room as the JVDI Editorial Board, allowing for crosstalk and collaboration with the editor of JVDI and members of the JVDI Editorial Board. The committee is an open committee and invites any who are interested in organizational communication to participate. The committee oversees creation and distribution of the newsletter, maintenance and upgrading of the website, collaborative projects with JVDI, and other questions of communication. If you have ideas related to how our organization communicates internally and externally, prefer a smaller committee atmosphere, and are looking for a committee to get involved with—the Communications Committee may be the one for you! If you would like to join, or have questions or concerns for the committee, please contact one of the committee chairs. Thank you and we look forward to communicating with you,

Grant Burcham ([email protected]) and Steve Hooser ([email protected]), committee chairs

By Katie Burns

October 03, 2022

Dr. Wendy Hauser built her veterinary practice in Denver around the concept of preventive care, including informing pet owners about the value of regular diagnostics.

“What we saw were less ‘train wreck’ cases over time. We were so able to successfully manage diseases in an earlier state that it was a rare pet that came in in a crisis, and most of the time they were not our patients,” Dr. Hauser said. “So I firmly, firmly believe in the value of diagnostics in daily practice and of educating clients so that they can make the best choices for their pets.”

Together with veterinary practices, state and commercial diagnostic laboratories across the country have helped drive the growth of veterinary diagnostics for well and unwell animals, while companies also continue to develop more options for point-of-care testing.

An Antech Diagnostics laboratory technician prepares a slide for review by Antech’s global network of pathologists. (Courtesy of Antech)

The state veterinary diagnostic laboratories, often located at universities, provide services for food animals and public health as well as companion animals. Many of these laboratories recently assisted with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in humans and the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The commercial laboratories primarily provide services for cats and dogs, with Antech Diagnostics and Idexx Laboratories being by far the biggest players. Other companies have entered the national diagnostic market in the past few years, namely drugmaker Zoetis via several acquisitions and Texas-based Ellie Diagnostics as a startup. Some small commercial laboratories also remain a part of the picture, with one example being Miami-based National Bio Vet Laboratories.

The public and private laboratories offer not only diagnostic services but also the expertise of veterinary specialists who can consult on cases by helping select tests, interpret results, and talk through treatments.

Idexx Reference Laboratories uses state-of-the-art technology to sort specimen tubes. (Courtesy of Idexx)

By the time Dr. Hauser sold her practice, income from diagnostics made up 25% of revenues. She went on to found Peak Veterinary Consulting, advising new and established practices on matters such as diagnostics.

Much of the veterinary community has embraced point-of-care diagnostics for rapid results, but Dr. Hauser believes many general practices only need equipment that can run basic tests because diagnostic laboratories deliver quick turnaround and quality control with less staff time. She said practices that provide urgent, or emergency care do need more in-house diagnostic capabilities.

Negotiating competitive test prices with commercial laboratories can drive more profit by allowing practices to reach more clients, Dr. Hauser said.

Practices can negotiate prices for individual tests on the basis of usage, and they should know when their contracts expire so they can renegotiate terms. Independent practices can take advantage of group purchasing organizations.

Dr. Hauser admitted that some clients can’t afford the level of diagnostics that she did in her practice, but she said there are a lot of basic diagnostics that hospitals can do that won’t break the bank.

The main changes that Dr. Hauser has seen in the past five years in the overall diagnostic market are the increasing availability of novel tests—for everything from gastrointestinal parasites to chronic kidney disease—and the consolidation of commercial laboratories, plus new opportunities with new laboratories opening up.

As for diagnostics at the practice level, she said, “It is a huge part of a hospital, and I don’t know that it gets the attention that it should get.”

A version of this article appears in the November 2022 print issue of JAVMA.

Website

The 66th AAVLD Annual Meeting will be onsite with the ability to view Scientific Presentation recordings by accessing the AAVLD MC L LMS continuing education platform.

You may also access 2021-2022 Presentations by going to www.aavld.org - Resources->CE Resources and Archives. read more...

View more pictures...

Thank you to all who contributed to this year’s AAVLD Foundation Scholarship Auction Event

This year the AAVLD Foundation provided approximately $18,000 in travel support and awards to engage the next generation of diagnosticians and advance student training by enabling students to attend the annual meeting.

This work is only made possible through donations from engaged AAVDL members like you.

The silent auction and in-person auction held on October 7th, 2022, made a total of $14,053.47.

AAVLD Membership, please send your laboratory news to Dave Zeman, Executive Director [email protected]

Our January focus is an editorial in JVDI’s January issue, “2022 JVDI readership survey” by the JVDI Editor-in-chief, Grant Maxie.

J Vet Diagn Invest 2023;35(1). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10406387221140921

Of the 867 surveys that were deliverable by email, 85 (9.8%) surveys were returned, which is a very good response. Of the 85 respondents (not everyone answered all questions):

○ Q1. What is your role professionally?

Faculty or professional staff (54), scientific laboratory staff (11), administration, business, or lab operations (11), other (16).

○ Q2. What is your primary discipline?

Anatomic pathology (38), clinical pathology (2), general microbiology (15), molecular biology (6), toxicology (9), epidemiology (6), other (9).

○ Q3. Are you receiving email alerts from AAVLD about the table of contents of each new bi-monthly issue of

JVDI?

Yes (77), no (7).

○ Q4. Are you able to sign in to the AAVLD website to access the full-issue, cover-to-cover issue of the JVDI plus full articles?

Yes (75), no (8).

○ Q5. Are you also receiving the optional email alerts from SAGE, the JVDI publisher, for new articles as they’re published, plus the table of contents of the new issue of JVDI?

Yes (45), no (38).

○ Q6. Have you been reading JVDI online successfully?

Yes (66), no (2); no, explain (17).

○ Q7. Rate your general satisfaction level with the scientific content of the JVDI, scale of 1–5.

Most satisfied, scores 4 or 5 (68 of 81); neutral (11); least satisfied, scores 1 or 2 (2).

○ Q8. Rate your general satisfaction level with the submission and editorial process of the JVDI, scale of 1–5.

Most satisfied, scores 4 or 5 (48); neutral (8); least satisfied, scores 1 or 2 (2); not applicable (24).

○ Q9. Comments to the Editorial Board.

Comments (22), no comments (52): 10 still prefer hardcopy or the choice of hardcopy or online (at least 4 were retired; 1 was a resident), 7 prefer that JVDI is online only, 2 concerned about length of time to publication and timeliness, 1 concerned re: page charges.

For members who experience difficulty in accessing JVDI online, we offer tips on accessing the Journal in the monthly AAVLD Newsletter, online on the AAVLD website, and in person by contacting Holly Farrell, our managing editor at [email protected].

Grant Maxie, DVM, PhD, DACVP

Editor-in-Chief, JVDI

[email protected]

Holly M. Farrell

Managing Editor, JVDI

[email protected]

Follow this link for instructions to receive the digital edition of the JVDI

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

~Benjamin Franklin

Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.

~Goran Persson

New Year's Eve is a great time to think about making a resolution to change a behavior, improve upon a practice, or to start something new. Most people don't keep their resolutions very far into the year, but there's no reason to wait until Dec 31st to reboot.

~Dana Perino

Student Travel Awardees 2022 and

Student Competitive Awardees click here