The Current State of Laboratory Medicine in a World at Risk

1. What is the current state of laboratory quality, standards, capacity and infrastructure?
2. How did we come by the current state of laboratory medicine? Why do some countries/regions have standards and others not? Is it important?
3. What have we learned to date about setting laboratory standards?
4. Where do our world standards fall short in addressing the current world health concerns?

Looking Forward: Future State of Worldwide Laboratory Medicine

1. What are the characteristics of effective world laboratory medicine standards?
2. How can the different interested parties (Governments – accreditors – professional laboratory societies – patient organisations – standardisation bodies) work together, perhaps even be coordinated?
3. What can medical devices manufacturers and the commercial laboratory industry contribute to laboratory standards?
4. How could countries/regions keep decision making local (to enhance flexibility) while at the same time participate in world quality standards?
5. What will laboratory medicine look like in 10 years? In 25 years?
6. What will be the nature of relationships between governments, pharmaceuticals, laboratories, medical societies and quality organizations?

Closing the Gap: What Must Be Done to Realize our Future Vision?

1. What are some immediate actions that can be taken to move efficiently toward world standards, build laboratory capacity and build infrastructure?
2. How do we seize upon the current best approaches to laboratory medicine?
3. What can be done to tap into both governmental interests and private interests to move laboratory medicine forward?
4. What is currently being done to move laboratory medicine toward high, collective standards?

Building a Community of Action

1. How can this body of concerned people move the agenda ahead, quickly and effectively?
2. What can we do as individuals to make a world difference in laboratory medicine?
3. What resources are we not tapping?
4. Moving from a community of interest to a community of action, what are our concerns/barriers? And how can we turn these concerns/barriers into advantages?

Transformation Approaches

1. Transcend current problems through transformational thinking and action (an incremental improvement is insufficient alone)
2. Leverage all energies toward the vision
3. Seek “chaordic” systems, whenever possible as they contain more energy (reference: The Birth of the “Chaordic Age” by Dee Hock, architect of Visa) http://www.chaordic.org/
4. Willfulness will determine success
5. Seek first to understand

Our Shared Creation