International Panel of Pathology Leaders Develop Principles for Patient Safety

TUCSON, Ariz., March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- An international panel of leaders in the pathology community today announced its support of four principles designed to drive positive change and improve patient safety in the anatomic pathology laboratory. The "Principles for Pathology and Patient Safety" address key issues where the expressed need for standardization and solutions is most acute.

At the invitation of Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, the panel convened last week to examine the state of lab-based patient safety, with the challenge to work toward a consensus on how to advance the standard of care for patients. The group, known as the International Pathology Patient Safety Advisory Board, concluded its work with this shared vision:

1. All patients around the globe deserve standardized, high quality pathology services.
2. As patient advocates, to support accurate diagnosis and enable personalized medicine, the International Pathology Patient Safety Advisory Board identifies significant opportunities to improve patient safety by developing and implementing solutions to enhance:
   • tissue preservation
   • specimen/slide identification and tracking; and
   • prevention of tissue contamination
3. We, the members of the International Pathology Patient Safety Advisory Board, find further opportunity to define standardized parameters for data collection and sharing in the assessment of these processes leading to quality measures for laboratory improvement.
4. We call upon the pathology profession to collaborate with laboratory and hospital administrative partners, clinician colleagues, and the laboratory diagnostics industry to address these opportunities to achieve excellence in patient care.

Dr. Eslie Dennis, Vice President of Scientific Affairs for Ventana and chair of the International Pathology Patient Safety Advisory Board, said, "We're encouraged by the progress made last week in Tucson, and are certain that patient care will be markedly improved if these principles are widely embraced by stakeholders in the pathology community."

The board's statement will be shared with the pathology community this week during the world's largest pathology meeting in San Diego, California, the 103^rd annual United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) meeting, with the hope of translating the consensus statement into concrete actions that can help further patient safety improvements in the anatomic pathology laboratory.

Members of the advisory board include Dr. Phil Branton, Bethesda, MD, USA; Dr. Richard Brown, Houston, TX, USA; Dr. John Carpenter, Lynnwood, WA, USA; Yvonne Daniels, Charlotte, NC, USA; Dr. Eslie Dennis, Tucson, AZ, USA; Prof. Joachim Diebold, Lucerne, Switzerland; Dr. Ramses Forsyth, Ghent, Belgium; Dr. Shane Kohl, Omaha, NE, USA; Alex Laslowski, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; Prof. Shinobu Masuda, Tokyo, Japan; and Dr. Richard Zarbo, Detroit, MI, USA.

About Ventana

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA products are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's intuitive, integrated staining, workflow management platforms, and digital pathology solutions optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors, support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving Personalized Healthcare through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies.

VENTANA and the VENTANA logo are trademarks of Roche.

CONTACT:

Jacqueline Bucher

Sr. Director, Corp. Communications

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

Tel 520.877.7288 o

Tel 520.468.9145 m

[email protected]

SOURCE Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.