December 2014

Is PAML to Be Sold? ‘No Comment!’ Say Execs

CEO SUMMARY: It is one of the 10 largest lab companies in the United States. Thus, if Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories in Spokane, Washington, were to be sold, it would trigger a major shift in the competitive market for lab testing services-both in the Pacific Northwest and nationally. Owners and executives at PAML have neither confirmed nor denied the ongoing rumors …

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PAMA, LDTs and Theranos Top 2014 Biggest News

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Not in recent memory has a single calendar year brought such a cascade of news stories that have the potential to affect nearly every clinical lab and pathology group in the United States. Blame it on the lack of money to fund healthcare and how it is motivating government and private payers to …

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The Curious Case of Dr. Cockerill, Mayo Clinic and Quest Diagnostics

Clinical Laboratory / By Joseph Burns

MOST PEOPLE WOULD CONSIDER the job of Chairman of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) at Mayo Clinic and CEO of Mayo Medical Laboratories (MML) to be at the pinnacle of the pathology profession. This makes it all the more curious as to why pathologist Franklin R. Cockerill III, M.D., decided to announce …

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More Genetic Counseling Leads to Fewer Lab Tests

Genetic Testing / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: Cigna was the first national health insurer to require independent board-certified genetic counseling before approving coverage for certain genetic tests. Since launching this program in September 2013, the insurer has seen a 450% increase in genetic counseling for Cigna members. Such counseling has helped to reduce utilization of genetic testing because informed patients understand that a genetic test might not …

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December 15, 2014 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

In certain respects, the noted physician and healthcare strategist Eric Topol, M.D., of Scripps Healthcare in La Jolla, California, can be considered a gadfly to pathology and the laboratory medicine profession. In his latest pronouncements on patient-centered healthcare, he warned clinical labs about the need to stay ahead of the technology wave that is transforming …

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Preparing the Next Generation of Lab Leaders

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

ACROSS THE LAB TESTING INDUSTRY, individual labs are caught in a serious conundrum. On one hand, the ongoing transformation of healthcare and the erosion of lab test revenues are putting the financial squeeze on a large number of clinical labs and pathology groups. On the other hand, at the very moment this is happening, the …

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