AdvaMed Unveils Diganostic Spin-Off

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) unveiled a new division to specifically lobby for the diagnostics industry in Washington.

The Washington, D.C.-based trade group is calling the new unit AdvaMed Dx.

According to a release, the new unit will function as an association within an association, while still having access to, and support from, the broader resources offered by AdvaMed. The division will be governed by an 18-member board of directors, chaired by Beckman Coulter chairman, president and CEO Scott Garrett, and an eight-member executive committee of CEOs from in-vitro diagnostics companies.

Full-time staff will include an executive director and a director of communications that will be located in AdvaMed’s offices and have access to AdvaMed’s policy expertise and other resources. Some of the issues AdvaMed Dx will focus on include establishing a “modernized risk-based approach to the regulation of in-vitro diagnostics to support timely patient access to safe and effective tests,”according to the association. It also will focus on reforming the Medicare payment system for clinical laboratory diagnostic tests to “recognize the value of new tests,” especially new generations of molecular diagnostic tests.