April 16, 2007
CONTACT: Alan Mertz
PHONE: 202-637-9466

New Coalition Launches National Campaign To Emphasize Importance Of Clinical Lab Testing

Initiative Will Stress to Policymakers Critical Importance of Laboratory Testing in Detection, Prevention and Treatment to Improve U.S. Health Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The nation's leading clinical laboratories and a number of partners from various health sectors today launched a new national campaign, called Results for Life, that will emphasize the importance of clinical laboratory testing in creating a more effective and cost-efficient 21st century health care system.

The campaign was announced April 18th at an event in the U.S. Capitol that included a number of noteworthy figures including House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Kelly Ripken, wife of baseball Hall of Fame legend Cal Ripken, Jr., who discussed the testing that led to the detection of her thyroid disease.

Results for Life will direct its informational efforts - which will be in the form of studies, polling, multi-media materials, Internet communications and targeted advertising, among other tools - toward Capitol Hill, health care policymakers and the national news media. The campaign goal is to communicate how the clinical laboratory contributes to a health care system that places a high priority on prevention and early detection of illness.

"Lab tests are a relatively invisible component within the health care continuum," said Marc Grodman, M.D., President and CEO of Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. and American Clinical Laboratories Association (ACLA) Board liaison to the campaign. "Yet, they are so very critical in ensuring that the right treatment is given at the right time, and so important in making sure that our health care resources are used wisely and efficiently."

At the roll-out event, the campaign's new website, www.labresultsforlife.org, was unveiled. The website, as well as many of the campaign's print and electronic materials, will tell real-life stories of individuals whose lives were saved because of timely lab tests.

According to Alan Mertz, ACLA President, these stories will illustrate to national policymakers how lab testing helps lead to better patient outcomes and greater cost savings. "Lab testing doesn't cost the taxpayer or the private sector a whole lot of money, but it is one of the critical linchpins to the 21st century health care system we all desire," he said.

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