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

January 2017

Pharmacogenomic testing a success at South Dakota health system

TDR Insider / By Mary Van Doren

This is an excerpt from a 2,700-word article in the January 30 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: One essential element of precision medicine — the wave of the future …

Pharmacogenomic testing a success at South Dakota health system Read More »

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

January 30, 2017 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

In New Jersey, a U.S. attorney has put laboratory sales reps on notice that they can be prosecuted for violating federal anti-kickback laws and sent to prison. On January 18, Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, announced the sentencing of Michael J. Zarrelli, of Berkeley Heights, N.J., formerly a sales representative with the now- defunct …

January 30, 2017 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News Read More »

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

In Texas, BeaconLBS Start Will Be Delayed

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: UnitedHealthcare will not implement the claims impact part of its laboratory benefit management program in Texas on March 1, 2017, as it had previously announced. Opposition to the program and the requirement that physicians use the BeaconLBS system when ordering about 79 lab tests is building among physicians in Texas. Officials from the …

In Texas, BeaconLBS Start Will Be Delayed Read More »

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

Health System Lab Is Genotyping To Identify Best Drugs for Patients

Genetic Testing / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: One essential element of precision medicine will be the regular use of pharmacogenomic testing to provide additional guidance to physicians when selecting the most appropriate therapeutics and optimal dose for each individual patient. Despite the reluctance of private payers and Medicare to reimburse for pharmacogenomic tests, Avera Institute for Human Genetics (AIHG) in …

Health System Lab Is Genotyping To Identify Best Drugs for Patients Read More »

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

Another Pharmacogenomic Lab Hit With Audit, Multi-million Dollar Repayment Demand

Laboratory Billing / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: In 2014, during a ZPIC audit of an unnamed pharmacogenomic testing lab, a federal auditor reviewed a small number of claims that had been filed over a period of several years. Despite supporting letters from physicians, the auditor rejected those claims, then extrapolated the findings to declare payments for thousands of tests over …

Another Pharmacogenomic Lab Hit With Audit, Multi-million Dollar Repayment Demand Read More »

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

Mount Sinai Health System Sells Outreach Lab to LabCorp

Laboratory Management / By Robert Michel

ANOTHER ACADEMIC MEDICAL CENTER decided to cash in on the value of its outreach lab. On Jan. 10, Laboratory Corporation of America announced it would acquire the lab outreach business of Mount Sinai Health System of New York City. Terms of the transaction and purchase price were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close …

Mount Sinai Health System Sells Outreach Lab to LabCorp Read More »

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

Lab Innovators Advocate Need for Clinical Lab 2.0

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: It is generally recognized that the clinical lab industry faces a financial squeeze of unprecedented dimensions. Lab test prices are falling steadily and more major cuts are coming to Medicare Part B fees in just 11 months. At the same time, obtaining favorable coverage and reimbursement decisions from payers is becoming tougher. This …

Lab Innovators Advocate Need for Clinical Lab 2.0 Read More »

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

Ending ‘Lab Tests as a Commodity’

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

WITH HEALTHCARE POISED TO MAKE FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES in both the delivery of care (think integration, ACOs, medical homes) and how providers are paid (less fee-for-service, more budgeted payment methods), it is time for the entire profession of laboratory medicine to tackle the elephant in the room: lab tests bought and sold as commodities. The commoditization …

Ending ‘Lab Tests as a Commodity’ Read More »

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

January 9, 2017 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

December 27 was the 100th birthday of pathologist Jan Steiner, MD, FRCP (C), FCAP, remembered by many long-serving lab executives and clinical pathologists as one of the co-founders, along with James Root, PhD, of Chi Laboratory Systems in the late 1980s. This was a time when he was already in his 70s. He worked with Chi …

January 9, 2017 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News Read More »

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

China Invests $9 Billion In Precision Medicine

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: In the 1960s, it was a race to be first in space between the United States and the Soviet Union. This decade, it’s a race to be first in genetic and precision medicine between the U.S. and China. To that end, the Chinese government has budgeted $9 billion as an investment to further …

China Invests $9 Billion In Precision Medicine Read More »

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

;