Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Greetings from the Labvocate

Mission Statement-To inform the public about Medical Laboratory Issues, and how they affect healthcare.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
Medical Laboratory Technology. What exactly is it, and why does it matter to you? For that matter, why am I putting the energy into this endeavor, instead of showing off pictures of my garden’s progress?
Recent developments have happened that have convinced me that a blog dedicated to this topic needed to be done (these developments will be discussed in future postings). So this is my blog, the Labvocate.
I will try to be informative, objective, and fair. A balance between education and editorial will be reached. I’m open to comments and suggestions for postings. Civilized discussion and comments will be most welcome.
One thing will not be done by this blog. Providing individual diagnostic services.
Diagnosing your medical problems is the job of a licensed medical doctor. Here’s disclaimer #1:

The material posted on this blog (The Labvocate) is for information purposes only, and can not be used for the purpose of diagnosing and/or the treatment of individual medical conditions.

For example there could be a posting about blood thinners (i.e. warfarin). Discussion about the technical aspects of monitoring this class of medication, or trends in therapy would be encouraged. But if a reader were to ask what their INR should be, there could be no to that answer that question. Period, end of conversation, nest topic please. If you’re not getting the answer from your physician is it because the question hasn’t been asked?
Attacking other medical professions is not going to be part of this blog’s philosophy either. We’re all in the trenches together, sometimes outside forces try to distract us from what’s important, the patient.
That’s doesn’t mean everything is smooth sailing. There’s a lot of things my colleagues in the other professions do that are quite frankly annoying and petty..from my perspective. So future possible postings could be asking these professions why do you that, is there a genuine reason or do you folks do that just to specifically annoy the lab?
One last thing that needs to be cleared up and it’s an important one. For the last twenty years, I have had the pleasure of working for the Northern Health Authority (NHA), and it’s one I would like to continue. So here’s disclaimer #2:


The material posted on this blog (The Labvocate) are the opinions of the author, and do not reflect those of the Northern Health Authority.

Hopefully the administration of NHA will be available for future dialogue and/or guest hosting.
So thank you for taking the time to read my first posting. I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Regards,

Mark Hawkins.