Michael Lee Astion, MD, PhD
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Biography
Dr. Astion is the Director of Regional Laboratories, Director of Point of Care Testing, and Co-Director of Reference Laboratories in the Department of Laboratories at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington. He stepped down in late 2023 from his previous position as the Medical Director of the Department of Laboratories, which he held from 2013-2023. Dr. Astion is the Creator and one of the Founders of PLUGS, the Patient-Centered Laboratory Utilization Guidance Service, a unique service that helps hospital-based and commercial laboratories actively increase the value of lab testing through aligning with patients and the insurance industry. His career, which includes experience in adult medicine and pediatrics is divided between clinical service, teaching, and research and development. He has authored more than 25 software titles, 50 peer-reviewed papers, and 100 editorials and interviews. He is working actively, through grants and intellectual property held by the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s, with the insurance industry in the United States to create utilization management rules for clinical laboratory testing. Dr. Astion is a frequent speaker at professional meetings, where he lectures on issues related to laboratory stewardship and management; laboratory economics and outreach; and medical errors.
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Related Pages
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View a list of Dr. Astion's publications on MyBibliography.
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Patient Testimonials
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Awards and Honors
Award Name Award Description Awarded By Award Date Outstanding Contributions to Pediatric and Maternal-Fetal Clinical Chemistry AACC 2021 - 2021 Outstanding Contributions to Laboratory Education Given to one recipient annually for contributions to education in clinical laboratory science. American Association for Clinical Chemistry 2014 Contributions to Management Science An international award given annually for contributions to management science as it relates to the clinical laboratory industry. American Association for Clinical Chemistry 2006 - 2007 Outstanding Contributions to Patient Safety An international award given annually for conributions to decreasing errors in laboratory testing. American Association for Clinical Chemistry 2005 - 2006 -
Publications
Manuscripts in Refereed Journals
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Dickerson JA, Cole B, Conta JH, Wellner M, Wallace SA, Jack RM, Rutledge J, and Astion ML.Improving the value of costly genetic reference laboratory testing with active utilization management
Arch Path Lab Med., 2014 : 138110-113 -
Dintzis SM, Stetsenko GY, Sitlani CM, Gronowski AM, Astion ML, Gallagher THCommunicating pathology and laboratory errors: anatomic pathologists' and laboratory medical directors' attitudes and experiences.
21502431 American journal of clinical pathology, 2011 May : 135(5)760-5 -
Reed RC, Kim S, Farquharson K, Astion MLA 2-year study of patient safety competency assessment in 29 clinical laboratories.
18480014 American journal of clinical pathology, 2008 June : 129(6)959-62 -
Edlefsen KL, Tait JF, Wener MH, Astion MUtilization and diagnostic yield of neurogenetic testing at a tertiary care facility.
17446330 Clinical chemistry, 2007 June : 53(6)1016-22 -
Goodyear N, Kim S, Reeves M, Astion MLA 2-year study of Gram stain competency assessment in 40 clinical laboratories.
16482988 American journal of clinical pathology, 2006 Jan. : 125(1)28-33 -
Yuan S, Astion ML, Schapiro J, Limaye APClinical impact associated with corrected results in clinical microbiology testing.
15872240 Journal of clinical microbiology, 2005 May : 43(5)2188-93 PMCID:PMC1153769 -
Kim S, Reeves M, Astion MLWeb-based method for establishing national competency benchmarks in fourteen areas of clinical laboratory services.
15044332 Clinical chemistry, 2004 April : 50(4)753-5 -
Astion ML, Shojania KG, Hamill TR, Kim S, Ng VLClassifying laboratory incident reports to identify problems that jeopardize patient safety.
12866368 American journal of clinical pathology, 2003 July : 120(1)18-26
Published Abstracts
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Dickerson J, Jack RM, Astion MLA Systematic Approach to Improve the Quality and Economics of Laboratory Send-outs in a Pediatric Reference Laboratory
Modern Pathology, 2012 : 25342-343
Other Publications
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Heim JA, Huang H, Zabinsky ZB, Dickerson J, Wellner M, Astion M, Cruz D, Vincent J, Jack RDesign and implementation of a combined influenza immunization and tuberculosis screening campaign with simulation modelling.
26009843 Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 2015 Aug. : 21(4)727-34 -
Astion MLHumanizing Lean in the Clinical Lab
Clinical Laboratory News, 2015 : 41(7) -
Dickerson J and Astion M.Unnecessary and unintended 1,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D Order Patterns: A Metaphor for Life.
Clinical Laboratory News, 2015 Jan. : 41(1)(1)22-23 -
Cole, B, Dickerson JA, Graber ML, Fantz CR, Laposata M, Henriksen K, Astion ML, and Epner P.A prospective tool for risk assessment of sendout testing.
Clin Chem Acta., 2014 Mar 29 : 434C:1-5 -
Astion MReducing Errors in Manual Processes
Clinical Laboratory News, 2014 : 40(1)
https://www.aacc.org/publications/cln/articles/2014/january/psf-errors -
Dickerson J, Cole B, Jack R, Astion M.Another laboratory test utilization program: our approach to reducing unnecessary 1,25 Vitamin D orders with a simple intervention.
Am J Clin Pathol, 2014 : 138(1)110-113 -
Dickerson J, Cole, B and Astion MLTen Ways to Improve the Quality of Send-out Testing
Clinical Laboratory News, 2012 : 38(4) -
Astion MLDisruptive Behavior: How Labs Can Recognize and Ovecome its Negative Effects
Clinical Laboratory News, 2011 : 37(7)13
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Presentations
Presentation Title Event Location Date New Years Resolutions for Laboratory Management American Association for Clinical Chemistry and Roche Diagnostics Laboratory Leadership (L2) National Webinar Broadcast to National Audience of 120 Clinical Laboratories in 35 states. Jan 6, 2016 Annual Carl and Susan Smith Endowed Lecture. "A Local and National Intervention to Improve the Utilization of Clinical Laboratory Tests Washington University, Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds St. Louis, MO Mar 20, 2015 Annual Carl and Susan Smith Endowed Lecture: "A Local and National Intervention to Improve the Utilization of Clinical Laboratory Tests". Washington University St. Louis, MO 2015 "A Local and National Intervention to Improve the Utilization of Clinical Laboratory Tests". Johns Hopkins, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Grand Rounds Baltimore, MD Feb 24, 2014 Laboratory Testing Could be Hazardous to Your Health: A Look at Test Utilization for Autoantibody Testing Autoimmune Congress Asia Singapore 2011 Impact of Neglected Human Resource Issues on Laboratory Quality POLQM Quality Symposium Vancouver, BC 2011 Putting Power into Patient Safety Interventions in the Clinical Laboratory Emory University Dept of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Grand Rounds Atlanta, GA 2010
Overview
- Board Certification(s)
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Pathology - Clinical
- Medical/Professional School
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University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- Residency
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Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA - Clinical Interests
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Laboratory Utilization, Continuous Performance Improvement, Laboratory Economics, Autoantibody testing, Patient Safety
- Research Focus Area
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Health Services Research