Bad Ideas in Lab Stewardship
Speaker:
Michael Astion, MD, PhD, Geoffrey Baird MD, PhD, Creator and Co-Founder, PLUGS, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington; Professor and Chair, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington
Contact Hours:
1.0
Date:
April 08, 2025 - April 30, 2026
Description:
In this episode, Dr. Mike Astion and Dr. Geoff Baird discuss the root causes of bad ideas including "truthiness", the idea that something must be true because it sounds like it should be true. They explore issues such as free testing and financial conflicts of interest. They highlight past problematic ideas like Theranos, emphasizing that revolutionary promises in lab testing often fail due to fundamental statistical, biological and technological limitations. In tackling bad ideas, they underscore the necessity of approaching disagreements with humility and fostering collaborations to achieve a balanced and effective stewardship approach.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain how the Dunning-Kruger effect, the halo effect, and “truthiness” contribute to poor decision-making.
- Name a scandal in lab testing that involves misconceptions about lab stewardship.
- Discuss the financial and ethical implications of free testing models for labs, health systems and patients.