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

October 2020

Medicare COVID Test Payments to Be Cut Starting Jan. 1

TDR Insider / By Robert Michel

This is an excerpt of a 1,9842-word article in the October 26, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: Starting Jan. 1, CMS will lower the Medicare COVID test payment to $75 when labs with “high-throughput systems” report a COVID-19 test result …

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Lab Leaders Say COVID-19 Tests Needed in 2021

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

How long into the future will clinical laboratories need to offer COVID-19 tests on a large scale? That is the number one question confronting labs in every region of the United States. Last week, three nationally-known lab CEOs answered that question during the general session of the Virtual Executive War College. It was a panel discussion moderated by Robert …

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Medicare to Cut Payment for COVID Tests Starting Jan. 1

Laboratory Billing / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Starting Jan. 1, CMS will lower the COVID-19 test payment to $75 when labs with “high-throughput systems” report a COVID-19 test result after 48 hours. This is the federal government working at cross purposes, since other federal agencies are diverting COVID-19 testing supplies from labs. This penalizes a lab that accepts COVID-19 specimens believing it has the supplies needed …

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New Clinical Lab Opens on March 23 and Prospers

Laboratory Management / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Timing is everything when launching a new clinical laboratory business. The March 23 grand opening of Incyte Pathology’s clinical lab came in the midst of the collapse of daily routine specimen referrals. But once the lab was operational, Incyte had the capability, the expertise, and the facilities to validate and perform COVID-19 testing. Cash flow from SARS-CoV-2 tests …

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Joint Pathology Center Goes Digital; Signs Deals with Proscia, Huron

Digital Pathology / By Robert Michel

IT’S A MAJOR ENDORSEMENT of digital pathology and whole slide imaging. Last week, the federal government’s Joint Pathology Center announced agreements with two digital pathology companies. The goal is to digitize incoming slides and archived slides, support a digital pathology workflow, and make the digitized slides searchable to pathologists and researchers. The first agreement was announced on Oct. 20. The Joint Pathology Center …

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Community Lab Ceases after 37 Years of Operation

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: In Pennsylvania, one of the state’s largest independent clinical laboratories, HNL Lab Medicine in Allentown, acquired a lab competitor last month, Northeastern Laboratory Medicine in Hazelton. The deal is a good strategic move for both labs because HNL will continue to serve NLM’s nursing home and at-home patients while adding NLM’s 20 clinical laboratory staff members to its employee …

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$481 Mil Federal COVID Contract Awarded to Young IVD Company

Clinical Laboratory, In Vitro Diagnostics / By Robert Michel

IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST THE PANDEMIC, federal officials are boosting the fortunes of some little-known or emerging in vitro diagnostics (IVD) companies. One example is the recent award of a $481 million COVID-19 test contract to Cue Health Inc., of San Diego. Earlier this month, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) announced a contract that …

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Labs, AP Groups Confused about UnitedHealthcare’s Test Registry

Laboratory Billing / By Robert Michel

CONFUSION CONTINUES among clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups about how they should comply with UnitedHealthcare’s new Laboratory Test Registry Program. The program goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, but labs and pathology groups must register all tests and testing procedures with UHC by Dec. 1, 2020. Since UHC announced the test registry in June, labs and anatomic pathology (AP) groups have struggled to …

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October 26, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

In Houston, an 18-year-old high school student started a mobile laboratory company to provide COVID-19 tests to home-bound patients. As the youngest emergency medical technician in Texas, Taft Foley, III, saw the need for this service. Texas Mobile Medical Labs is the name of his company and it is emblazoned on his van. It is a CLIA-certified lab offering both molecular and rapid antigen tests for COVID-19. Foley’s lab company has …

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DOJ Delivers $6B Lab Fraud Crackdown

TDR Insider / By Mary Van Doren

This is an excerpt of a 1,028-word article in the October 5, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: In this latest lab fraud crackdown, Department of Justice cases involving clinical labs or molecular test claims may represent about half (or about $3 …

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