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

August 2012

Damon Laboratories, Mitt Romney, and Politics

IT IS SELDOM THAT THE CLINICAL LABORATORY INDUSTRY HITS THE RADAR SCREEN during a presidential election. So it is with some interest that I report to you that Mitt Romney recently touted the lessons he learned while serving on the board of Damon Clinical Laboratories, Inc., as useful for guiding the nation. Romney, now the …

Damon Laboratories, Mitt Romney, and Politics Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Prostate Biopsy Claims Affected by Policy Change

CEO SUMMARY: Quietly, with no fanfare and little advance public notice, the Medicare program is taking steps to change reimbursement policy for prostate biopsies. On August 7, 2012, Palmetto GBA adopted the new policy published on January 1, 2012, by the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI). Pathology billing experts and attorneys state that this policy …

Prostate Biopsy Claims Affected by Policy Change Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Root Cause Analysis Used To Find Source of Errors

CEO SUMMARY: It is a reminder that today’s sophisticated laboratory test systems still have the potential to malfunction in unexpected ways. This spring, following installation and validation of a new chemistry instrument, one Canadian hospital laboratory quickly recognized that a series of random errors were a sign that the instrument had issues—but not before specimens …

Root Cause Analysis Used To Find Source of Errors Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Narrower Provider Networks Topic during Quest Conference Call

SINCE MAY 1, 2012, the nation’s largest clinical laboratory company has had a new CEO, who is Stephen H. Rusckowski. The company’s second quarter conference call provided an opportunity to learn more about how he views Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. Conducted on July 19, the first topic of the call was the financial report. For Q2- …

Narrower Provider Networks Topic during Quest Conference Call Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Pathologists in China, U.S. Linked By Digital Pathology

CEO Summary: It is one of the first clinical collaborations of this type to be anchored by use of digital pathology. Pathologists at the medical schools of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) are exchanging cases and sharing knowledge. During the first 18 …

Pathologists in China, U.S. Linked By Digital Pathology Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Leica, Aperio, Myriad, AMP, Hologic, Gen-Probe

LEICA BIOSYSTEMS TO ACQUIRE APERIO FOR THE SECOND TIME IN AS MANY YEARS, a global leader in histology systems and products has announced that it will acquire one of the leading digital pathology companies. This time it is Leica Biosystems of Nussloch, Germany, which will purchase Aperio Technologies, Inc., of Vista, California. Founded by Dirk …

Leica, Aperio, Myriad, AMP, Hologic, Gen-Probe Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

August 27, 2012 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

How big is the market for laboratory testing in China, with its 20,000 hospitals and population of 1.3 billion people? A new report estimates that the independent clinical laboratory industry in China currently generates about 2 billion Yuan Renminbi per year in revenue. This is equal to about US $315 million. Authors of the report, …

August 27, 2012 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News” Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

Time for Congress to Properly Fix CLIA PT Issue

THIS TIME, THE PROVERBIAL CAT MAY BE OUT OF THE BAG when it comes to long-standing dissatisfaction with how federal regulators interpret and enforce CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) regulations as they relate to inadvertent errors in the referral of proficiency tests (PT). For many in the clinical laboratory profession, this issue of THE DARK …

Time for Congress to Properly Fix CLIA PT Issue Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

CLIA PT Enforcement Ensnares Top Labs

CEO SUMMARY: Think it can’t happen to you? Think again. Following self-disclosure of inadvertent referrals of proficiency testing (PT) specimens, the laboratory at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) was visited by officials from the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Following that survey, CMS sent notice …

CLIA PT Enforcement Ensnares Top Labs Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

CMS Proposes Sanctions Against OSU Laboratory

CEO SUMMARY: As its reward for self-reporting the referral of six proficiency testing (PT) specimens in three years, the laboratory at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) has been told by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that its CLIA license could be revoked, subject to appeal by the laboratory. Here are …

CMS Proposes Sanctions Against OSU Laboratory Read More »

To access this post, you must purchase The Dark Report.

;