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

February 2006

Another Milestone in Physician Pay-for-Performance

EFFORTS TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE physician pay-for-performance programs are ongoing. The latest big news is the announcement by a consortium of California’s largest health insurers, employers, and physician groups that its existing pay-for-performance program will expand to pay quality-based bonuses equal to 10% of physicians’ income within five years. This goal was contained in a …

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Lab “Day of Disaster” Provides Useful Lessons

CEO SUMMARY: On Friday, May 5, laboratory administrators and pathologists who guided their labs through some of the nation’s biggest natural disasters and emergencies will gather in Miami to share their experiences in contingency planning and disaster response. It is no understatement to say this knowledge can help your lab save lives and protect the …

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Spectrum’s IT Strategy Now Includes EMRs

CEO SUMMARY: By offering client-physicians an electronic medical records (EMR)  system, Spectrum Lab Network expects to gain competitive advantage. The EMR solution supports Spectrum’s strategy of providing enhanced and integrated informatics services to all users, including physicians, payers, and patients. Until now, no lab has ever offered to be a source of EMR sales and service to office-based physicians. …

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Technical/Professional Billing Split Is A Threat to Pathology

EACH SECOND YEAR, when we publish our bi-annual trends in anatomic pathology, we get feedback from our clients and regular readers. This year, a particularly insightful letter was received. The writer wants to add another trend to our list of 11. He puts forth his arguments in the letter we reproduce below: Letter To The …

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First Lab Reports on Its Unannounced Inspection

CEOSUMMARY: Here is the lab industry’s first report from a laboratory which has under gone an unannounced inspection under the College of American Pathologist’s new accreditation program. Lab management at Kern Medical Center say the process went smoothly—but that effective preparation and a detailed contingency plan are “musts.” Once the inspection starts, conventional procedures are …

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MDS Intends to Divest All Lab Testing Assets

CEO SUMMARY: As part of a major corporate restructuring, MDS Inc. is selling three business units, including MDS Diagnostic Services. Within the Canadian healthcare system, this is a major event. MDS operates some of the nation’s largest laboratory facilities in its most populous provinces. However, finding buyers may be difficult. Since announcing divestiture plans five …

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February 27, 2006 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

There’s lots of management turmoil under way at Pathology Partners, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas. On or about February 3, President and CEO Stephen L. Spotts and several other senior executives exited the company. Since then the management page on Pathology Partners’ Web site has noted that it is “under construction” and lists no names. …

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Complete Human DNA Profiling as a STAT Test

MOST OF YOU ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH A NEW SCIENTIFIC PRIZE that is in the planning stage. On January 27, The Wall Street Journal published a story that disclosed the plans of the X Prize Foundation to award a prize, totaling between $5 million and $20 million, to the team that first decodes the full DNA …

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Many Trends in AP Spell Lots of Change Ahead

CEO SUMMARY: Every second year, THE DARK REPORT releases its list of key trends in anatomic pathology. These trends help shape an understanding about the state of the pathology profession. Our current list includes 11 identifiable trends. This is not an auspicious sign for pathologists who prefer things to remain the same. Eleven distinct trends …

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Sonora Quest Receives Highest AZ Quality Award

CEO SUMMARY: After several years of intense effort to implement quality management systems and Six Sigma techniques throughout its organization, Sonora Quest Laboratories earned the Arizona Quality Program’s highest honor—the Governor’s Award for Quality. This is an accomplishment without precedent in the laboratory industry, either in the United States or internationally. BY RECEIVING THE ARIZONA …

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