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

October 2011

Forecast: Tough Fee Cuts Are in Labs’ Future

EVERY CLINICAL LABORATORY AND ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY GROUP PRACTICE in the United States should prepare for some big-time financial belt-tightening during the next 36 months. That certainly is the message coming from intense budget battles unfolding in Washington, DC, this fall. Most of you reading this probably know that the Medicare patient lab test co-pay/co-insurance proposal …

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Congress Likely to Pass Deep Cuts in Lab Test Fees

CEO SUMMARY: All signs point to a potentially dismal financial outcome for the clinical lab testing industry as Congress tries to trim spending by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. At least three proposals to significantly cut lab test reimbursement are in active debate by federal lawmakers. One proposal calls for reinstituting the Medicare …

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In Massachusetts, AG Targets Drug Testing Labs

CEO SUMMARY: Since taking office in 2007, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has aggressively pursued civil charges against drug testing labs. Last month, Coakley announced a criminal arrest in one ongoing investigation after a grand jury indicted a physician in a kickback scheme involving lab testing. In four years, Coakley has reached settlements with four …

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In-Practice Histology Lab Splits Biopsies; ID’s Patient with DNA

In response to continuing requests by clients and readers of THE DARK REPORT, this issue institutes a new feature titled “Lab Fraud Watch.” It will provide information about activities in the medical laboratory testing marketplace which could be interpreted as violating federal and state fraud and abuse laws. It is the belief of many lab …

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Hospital Lab Uses HIE To Win Outreach Clients

CEO SUMMARY: Health information exchanges (HIEs) are operating nationwide, but few handle lab test orders and results with ease the way HealthBridge does. This long-established HIE in Cincinnati, Ohio, allows physicians to send lab test orders from their electronic health record systems (EHRs) and to receive matched lab test results back in their EHRs. One …

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Why Pathologists Benefit from Growth of In-Office Path Labs

Dear Editor: Your article on the trend of office-based physicians building in-clinic anatomic pathology laboratories was fascinating, but in my opinion, it was off the mark. In the article, “AP Labs in Doc’s Clinics Now an Established Fact” (See TDR, September 6, 2011), you wrote that the growth of In-clinic pathology labs is disrupting community …

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Are Prosecutors Afraid of Big and Little Lab Firms?

CEO SUMMARY: Settlements in the big whistleblower suits involving major lab companies typically generate national headlines. But seldom do the views of the “quiet majority” of lab owners and lab executives get much attention. These are the majority of lab professionals working hard to follow compliance laws and requirements. They want to meet both the …

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Rosetta Genetics, Aureon Biosciences, Plus Diagnostics, Atherotech, Sequenom

ROSETTA GENOMICS TO LAY OFF 35 EMPLOYEES TO CUT EXPENSES AND SHIFT MORE FUNDING toward sales of its proprietary molecular tests, Rosetta Genomics says it will eliminate 35 jobs. The company, based in Israel, operates a clinical laboratory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia laboratory employs eight people, but Rosetta did not disclose whether staff layoffs …

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October 17, 2011 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Have you ever heard the term “digital PCR” (Polymerase Chain Reaction)? That technology was of such interest to Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., that it just paid $162 million to acquire QuantaLife, Inc., the company that developed this digital PCR technology. The deal was announced on October 5. In the press release, it was noted that, “QuantaLife …

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