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

February 2014

Federal Judge Rules Against Idaho Hospital in Antitrust Case

Laboratory Compliance / By Robert Michel

LAST MONTH, A FEDERAL JUDGE RULED that St. Luke’s Health System of Boise, Idaho, violated antitrust laws when, in 2012, it acquired Saltzer Medical Group, the largest independent medical practice in the state. In ruling against the merger of a hospital and physician group, the judge said that the combined entity violated antitrust law and …

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February 24, 2014 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

Maybe the tough financial environment here in the United States is causing Sonic Healthcare Ltd., one of this nation’s bigger lab players, to be more interested in overseas lab testing opportunities. On February 18, its CEO, Colin Goldschmidt, M.D., told investors that “We continue to seek out synergistic [laboratory] acquisitions and we believe that Germany …

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Caris Life Sciences Achieves Accreditation to ISO 15189

Laboratory Management / By Robert Michel

IN DECIDING TO PURSUE ACCREDITATION TO ISO 15189: Medical Laboratories, Caris Life Sciences considered the international benefits of this designation. It was December when Caris Life Sciences of Irving, Texas, announced that it had earned accreditation to ISO 15189 from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). In addition to genomic testing, the company runs …

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Federal Judge Lets Trial Proceed in Case against Quest

Laboratory Compliance / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: Four California labs have charged that Quest Diagnostics engaged in predatory pricing in a case filed originally in November 2012. After the lawsuit was amended last summer and fall, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III heard various motions in the case. On February 6 he ruled that the case could proceed against …

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Scrutinizing the Cost of Lab Testing

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

IT SEEMS LIKE THE COST OF LABORATORY TESTING continues to be a high-profile issue. On the pages that follow, you will read two different stories about how the cost of lab testing is undergoing intense scrutiny. This is not an accident. Rather, it shows how healthcare’s evolution is already undermining the traditional payment methods common …

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Labs, Path Groups Face Major Financial Issues

Laboratory Management / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Are clinical labs and pathology groups ready for the end of fee-for-service reimbursement? That’s just one important question that will be answered at the upcoming Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management that will take place in New Orleans on April 29-30. The American healthcare system is undergoing unprecedented transformation and sessions …

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Physician Group ACO Targets High-Volume Tests for Savings

Laboratory Automation, Laboratory Management / By Joseph Burns

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW an accountable care organization views cost control. Atrius Health sought to control excess costs by focusing on high-priced items. It started with inappropriate hospitalizations and imaging studies and moved on to laboratory testing. Atrius Health is a non-profit alliance of six community-based medical groups and a home health and hospice agency. …

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New Mass Spectrometry Toxicology Test Delivers Clinical Benefits

Laboratory Equipment / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: Researchers at the University of Colorado in Aurora used mass spectrometry technology to create a paradigm-shifting toxicology test. It uses a urine specimen and can identify 112 compounds and more than 500 illicit and brand-name drugs in a single assay. For pain management testing, not only does this bend the cost curve downward, …

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Quality Assurance Regs to Tighten for UK Labs

Laboratory Compliance / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: In the United Kingdom, a window of opportunity has opened for improving the quality assurance activities of pathology and histopathology laboratories. Last week, at the Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine conference, the newly-published “Pathology Quality Assurance Review” was the focus of several keynote sessions. One recommendation is to develop key assurance indicators (KAIs) that …

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Lean Used to Lay Groundwork for Lab’s 15189 Accreditation

Lean Six Sigma / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: Henry Ford Health System’s laboratory organization has become first in the nation to have all its laboratory sites “standardized under one source of leadership” and accredited to the standards of ISO 15189: Medical Laboratories. The journey to achieve this current state has taken almost 10 years and started with the development of a …

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