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Doctors Pathology Service (DPS) Joins Growing Biospecimens for Research Program Offered by iSpecimen and the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN)LEXINGTON, Mass., March 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iSpecimen®, the marketplace for human biospecimen collections, today announced that Doctors Pathology Service (DPS), a full-service anatomic pathology reference lab serving the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, has joined a program offered by iSpecimen and the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) to make human biospecimens and associated data available to medical researchers. The novel program, announced in 2015 as a collaboration between iSpecimen and DHIN, the nation's first operational statewide health information exchange (HIE), allows DHIN members to provide biospecimens paired with de-identified data from the HIE to iSpecimen's research clients. Using data from the HIE to find specimens that match researchers' specific requests, iSpecimen's technology alerts the participating DHIN member to collect, pack, and ship the specimens to iSpecimen or directly to its researcher clients. iSpecimen shares resulting program revenue with the HIE, which in turn shares it with participating members to improve day-to-day operations and care. DPS is the second DHIN member to join this innovative program, as well as the first and only private reference laboratory within the DHIN network. Union Hospital of Elkton, MD, was the first to participate. Both organizations are contributing remnant specimens to the program – that is, specimens that would otherwise be discarded once medical testing is complete. As part of the program, only specimens from patients who have consented to allow their samples be used for research are eligible. Because iSpecimen taps into the data aggregated at the HIE, participating healthcare members can contribute samples to research without requiring an IT implementation of their own. Not only does this benefit the member by allowing them to quickly generate additional revenue with few resources required, but it also brings benefit to the HIE—allowing the HIE to deliver value well past the point of care, increase its own revenue and sustainability, and help it advance the cause of edical research. As a pathology lab, DPS samples consist of fresh, frozen, and fixed solid tissue, fresh primary cells, and liquid cytology samples. The organization manages 30,000 patient encounters a year and is one of the nation's largest pathology practices providing services to ambulatory surgical centers. Joining the program addresses the critical need for high-quality specimens by biomedical researchers. DPS specimens will be attractive to scientists investigating areas such as cancer and infectious diseases, among many other types of medical conditions. "This type of a program is a real win-win for healthcare," said V. Raman Sukumar, MD, Medical Director, DPS. "We and other healthcare organizations have valuable human biospecimens that we either discard or store indefinitely, while researchers desperately need samples just like the ones we have on hand. iSpecimen comes in with a large researcher customer base and the technology to make a match, while DHIN executes on the data transfer. We're all in medicine to heal, and this is another way we can do it together." "It's great to have a dedicated anatomic pathology lab as part of the DHIN-iSpecimen program," said Christopher Ianelli, MD, PhD, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, iSpecimen. "With precision medicine surging, solid tissues and primary cells are of utmost importance in identifying genetic markers, particularly for cancer. Liquid cytology is also in great demand for the study of infectious disease and viral DNA. DPS is a unique and promising partner to have in our quest to provide researchers with the specimens they need from the patients they want." About DHIN About DPS About iSpecimen
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/doctors-pathology-service-dps-joins-growing-biospecimens-for-research-program-offered-by-ispecimen-and-the-delaware-health-information-network-dhin-300427297.html SOURCE iSpecimen |