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

July 2012

Employers, Payers Are Challenging ‘High’ Test Prices

ONE NATIONAL TREND IN CLINICAL LABORATORY TESTING that has not yet gotten wide play outside the pages of THE DARK REPORT is the emergence of what might be termed a “war” by national and regional health insurers against the “higher” prices often charged by hospital laboratories. This is a key strategic shift in the managed …

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New BlueCard Policies Affect Lab Test Claims

CEO SUMMARY: This new policy from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) becomes effective on October 14, 2012. No longer can a local lab provide service to a member under the BlueCard program and be paid by the local plan in the region where the service was provided. Some regional BCBS plans have …

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Blue Cross Execs Discuss Reasons for New Policies

CEO SUMMARY: In recent months, officials from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) have responded to the concerns about new billing protocols for services provided as part of the BlueCard program and voiced by such clinical lab associations as the California Clinical Laboratory Association (CCLA) and the National Independent Laboratory Association (NILA). BCBSA …

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Digital Pathology Enables UCLA–China Lab Connection

CEO SUMMARY: Digital pathology holds the promise of interconnecting pathologists around the globe in ways that advance diagnostic accuracy and improve patient outcomes. One pioneering digital pathology collaboration involves the pathology departments at the medical schools of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. PART ONE OF A SERIES …

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Lab Site Visits in NZ Show Impact of Lab Contracting

CEO SUMMARY: In some ways, the story of the New Zealand’s health system’s 15-year strategy to reduce the cost of clinical laboratory testing is a cautionary tale for public laboratory companies in the United States. During THE DARK REPORT’S site visit to several private labs in New Zealand last week, the consequences were easily seen …

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Florida Law Better Defines Lab Marketing Violations

CEO SUMMARY: Despite clear language in Florida’s new state law that bans the placement of laboratory employees in a physicians’ office, some clinical lab companies want to continue the practice of placing specimen collectors in physicians’ offices. These opinions were voiced by lab executives during a meeting on June 28 in Tallahassee, Florida, at the …

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July 16, 2012 “Intelligence : Late Breaking Lab News”

It is with sadness that we report the death of pathologist Joel A. Sonnier, M.D. A victim of murder, his body was discovered in his home in Lubbock, Texas, on July 10. The housekeeper and the gardener made the discovery and called the police. Lubbock police announced the murder, but have no suspects as of …

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