COVER STORIES

Liver biopsy is an imperfect gold standard for diagnosing, staging, and monitoring nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but do any serum markers perform better?

The Path to Success for Early Career Laboratorians
How to Survive Publish or Perish
By Bill Malone

While not usually a part of formal education and training for laboratorians, there is a fairly predictable path to publishing success that involves trial and error, mentorship, effective networking, and a strategic approach to holding together the many threads of a demanding profession.

SERIES ARTICLE

Porphyrias
A Guide to Laboratory Assessment
By M. Laura Parnas, PhD, and Elizabeth L. Frank, PhD

The array of general skin and neurological symptoms caused by porphyrias increases difficulties in correctly identifying and providing treatment for those possessing the defective enzymes characteristic of these metabolic disorders.

NEWS BRIEF

PATIENT SAFETY FOCUS

Patient-and Family-Centered Care
Putting the Patient in Patient Safety
An Interview with Hollis Guill-Ryan

How can healthcare professionals encourage values that focus on open communication and respect for the voice of the patient? The patient- and family-centered care model offers some solutions.

Letters to the Editor
The Benefits of Lab Visits
From Cathy Groen, MT, and Corinne Fantz, PhD

Lab staff often feel disconnected from patients. This lab at Emory University decided to make the connection.

I knew her just enough
A poem by Thomas Cantolini, Medical Technologist

The Scarcity of Peer-Reviewed Literature on QI in Laboratory Medicine
Can the Bias Against Publishing be Broken?
By Frederick Strathmann, PhD

The lack of literature about specimen loss negates encouragement to pay attention to this quality improvement issue.

Lab Safety Concepts
How Can Labs Benefit From Implementing ‘Forcing Functions’?
By Karen Appold

Forcing functions in the lab can be applied to use of devices and computers to prevent such things as data loss.

How Executive Walk Rounds Can Improve Your Lab’s Safety Culture
By Karen Appold

Walk rounds by executives allow for more open discussion and immediate problem-solving with lab workers concerning safety issues.

PROFILES