Briefing: Improving Children’s Health—The Need for Better Pediatric Laboratory Testing

WASHINGTON — Join the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (formerly AACC) and leading experts in laboratory medicine and pediatric health for a discussion about what needs to be done to improve pediatric reference intervals and why this is critical to ensuring that children get effective care.

Speakers will address:

• What pediatric reference intervals are and why they’re essential to children’s health
• The challenges labs face in developing better pediatric reference intervals
• How the lab experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aim to overcome these challenges

When making diagnoses, healthcare professionals interpret laboratory test results within the context of reference intervals—i.e., the range of expected values for healthy children. If a test result falls outside of this expected range, that’s usually what prompts a clinician to initiate a medical intervention for a health condition. Unfortunately, the pediatric reference intervals in use today are highly inconsistent for a broad range of common clinical laboratory tests, a problem that puts children at risk for inappropriate or even harmful medical care.

Recognizing that there is a need for better pediatric reference ranges, Congress directed CDC to develop a plan to fix this problem. This briefing will delve into the details of that plan, as well as the resources that CDC still needs to put it in motion.

When: Luncheon Briefing: 12 – 1 p.m., Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Where: Room 2043, Rayburn House Office Building

Who:

• Moderator: Dr. Patricia Jones, Children’s Medical Center, Dallas
• Dr. Jack Fuqua, Riley Children’s Health, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis
• Dr. Dennis Dietzen, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Louis
• Dr. Hubert Vesper, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta

RSVP: Email Christine DeLong, ADLM Senior Manager, Communications & PR at [email protected].

About the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)

Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, ADLM (formerly AACC) brings together more than 70,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, ADLM has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.myadlm.org.