Since 1995, Reliable Business Intelligence for Clinical Laboratories, Pathology Groups and Laboratory Diagnostics

November 2004

Medicare’s New Policy May Help Labs

ONCE AGAIN, THE DARK REPORT IS FIRST TO ALERT YOU to a significant development in the laboratory testing marketplace. I am referring to a new and evolving Medicare policy which calls for the agency to reimburse for expensive new medical treatments and diagnostic tests. As you will read on pages 14-15, this policy has two …

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Big Seattle Med Center Adopts “Lean” Methods

CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory and pathology services at Virginia Mason Medical Center are an integral part of its hospital-wide Lean quality management initiative. Because of the importance of lab test data to so many clinical services, the laboratory often finds itself making key contributions in the process improvement efforts mounted by such clinical services as the …

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CA, FL, BC Move Forward With Lab Test Contracts

CEO SUMMARY: Medicaid agencies in the bellwether states of California and Florida continue to push ahead with plans to revise laboratory test contract policies. In British Columbia, private laboratory companies face an uncertain future as the provincial health administration maneuvers to upset the laboratory contracting status quo. It’s a trend with the potential to be …

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HPV Vaccine Developers Racing to Marketplace

CEO SUMMARY: At least ten companies are working on an HPV vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer. The leading two companies have Phase III clinical trials under way and expect to earn regulatory approval within the next 24 to 30 months. The speedy arrival of an HPV vaccine in the market will not affect Pap …

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Medicare Changes Policy On New Med Procedures

CEO SUMMARY: Faced with a literal tidal wave of new medical procedures, new therapeutic drugs, and new diagnostic tests, Medicare is crafting a unique strategy. As a new clinical option reaches the market, Medicare will reimburse—but only if the patient participates in a clinical study and these studies are paid for by either vendors or …

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Aureon Biosciences, Bayer, Competitive Technologies, Rare Blood Infections, Kaiser Permanente

KEVIN JOHNSON AND VIJAY AGGARWAL JOIN AUREON BIOSCIENCES TWO VETERAN LAB EXECUTIVES are back in the business. Kevin Johnson is now the Chairman at Aureon Biosciences Corporation and Vijay Aggarwal, Ph.D. is President and CEO. The fact that both men chose to join Aureon Biosciences will draw attention to the biotech firm. It is developing …

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“November 22, 2004 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Community-based pathologists get a featured role on the Learning Channel’s Inside Health program. It will be aired Sunday, November 28 at 8:30 am EST. The Learning Channel used pathologists affiliated with Pathology Service Associates (PSA) to help create a segment on the role of pathology in healthcare. PSA plans to make a video of the …

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Facing Down the Lab Assay Patent Monster

PATENT ROYALTIES FOR HOMOCYSTEINE TESTING are the subject of our lead story in this issue. (See pages 2-4.) It provides an early example of how patent-protected diagnostic tests can create budget-busting problems for hospital laboratories which perform those tests. The spectre of crushing royalty payments on a host of patent-protected diagnostic assays has loomed large …

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Homocysteine Patent Triggers Royalty Demand

CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory Corporation of America fought a patent infringement case against the holder of the homocysteine assay patent and lost after a five-year court battle. Now Competitive Technologies, Inc. (CTI), armed with its victory in federal court, is ready to negotiate royalty arrangements with laboratories, IVD manufacturers, and even physicians. Labs all over the …

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BC Labs’ LOINC Venture Now Carries Pharma Info

CEO SUMMARY: In British Columbia, two commercial laboratory companies are intense competitors. Yet, beginning in 2002, they jointly offered a single Web browser-based system for lab test results reporting. LOINC was the tool which linked their individual lab data repositories to the PathNET portal. Now the provincial health ministry has authorized the use of PathNET …

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