The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announced a new article in JAMA Health Forum. Authored by members of the AMP COVID Response Steering Committee, “The Role of Clinical Laboratories in Emerging Pathogens: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” is a new viewpoint article that offers recommendations to improve the US’ ability to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future emerging infectious disease outbreaks.
Throughout this pandemic, AMP has continuously focused on addressing key issues and enabling clinical laboratories to increase testing capacity. The new JAMA Health Forum article offers three important recommendations to improve the US response moving forward:
- Clinical laboratories in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Promote better collaboration and communication between public health and clinical laboratories and relevant government agencies to more effectively leverage capacities and capabilities to support testing needs.
- Government regulation and clinical laboratories during the pandemic: Maintain the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program as the regulatory agency responsible for oversight of laboratory developed testing procedures, enabling clinical laboratories to rapidly develop and deploy high-quality diagnostic tests during a public health emergency.
- Supply chains to meet testing demands during the pandemic: Ensure clinical laboratories have a stable chain of supplies and infrastructure to respond optimally to pandemic needs, as well as other critical clinical testing, including for cancer, inherited conditions, and infectious diseases. This will require early and better use of the Defense Production Act or similar support from the federal government.
Since 2009, AMP has been calling for a comprehensive national diagnostic testing response strategy for emerging outbreaks. The AMP COVID Response Steering Committee was formed to help coordinate and communicate the association’s continued efforts to address clinical needs and engage key stakeholders.
To help address the numerous regulatory, reimbursement, supply-chain, logistical, and systems challenges, AMP issued seven recommendations to federal, state, and local governments based on the preliminary results from the April and August 2020 surveys of laboratories conducting molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2. AMP members are committed to offer their expertise to help inform the Biden administration, guide healthcare providers, and educate the public.
