Joseph Burns
Joseph Burns is the senior editor of The Dark Report. An independent journalist in Falmouth, Mass., Burns has covered health care since 1991 and clinical laboratories since 2004. He writes for a variety of publications, including Managed Care magazine (where he is a contributing editor), Hospitals & Health Networks, and Healthcare Finance News. In addition, he is the insurance topic leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists and has worked as a writer and editor for The Commonwealth Fund, the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, the National Business Coalition on Health, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and the National Quality Forum. Burns has edited books on health care business strategies for Faulkner & Gray and Panel Publishers and was editor-in-chief of Business & Health magazine, formerly published by Medical Economics Co., and later was a contributing editor and columnist for Managed Healthcare Executive magazine. He began his career as a journalist in Connecticut, working as a newspaper reporter for The Wallingford Post and the Meriden Record-Journal and as a copy editor, reporter, and regional news editor for The Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest newspaper. While working for The Courant, he taught news writing at the University of Connecticut.
Articles by Joseph Burns
Pathology Firm Pays $63M to Settle Qui Tam Case
CEO SUMMARY: Inform Diagnostics, formerly Miraca Life Sciences, settled the federal qui tam case while denying wrongdoing. The $63.5 million settlement will by paid by the former owner, Miraca Holdings, a Japanese company. The federal Department of Justice alleged that the company—then …
For Labs, Blockchain Offers New Opportunities
CEO SUMMARY: Some of blockchain’s proponents view its potential uses in health information technology to combat cybersecurity threats and improve the secure exchange of health information through electronic medical record systems. But for clinical laboratories, blockchain could be the k…
Northwell Health Builds Two Big Lab Facilities
CEO SUMMARY: At Northwell Health, the clinical laboratory team has been busy building and opening two new, large laboratory facilities. First to open was the lab in Little Neck, Queens, a shared lab with NYC Health and Hospitals. This lab will handle 36 million tests annually. The second …
Patient Care Focus Helps Path Group Win Contract
CEO SUMMARY: When Ascension Wisconsin wanted one pathology group to serve its needs statewide, North Shore Pathologists responded to the request for proposal by focusing on how pathologists can improve patient care through a patient-centered model. Other pathology groups responded with pr…
Respected Lab Exec Found Dead in Triple Homicide
CEO SUMMARY: Police and the district attorney have released few details about the murders of well-known clinical laboratory executive Richard Nicholson, his wife, and a family friend. The crimes were committed in Nicholson’s home in Newport Beach, Calif., and 27-year old Camden Nicholso…
PAMA Price Cuts Reduce Revenue at LabCorp, Quest
This story was updated from the original on March 27, 2019, and includes corrected information in three places. CEO SUMMARY: In their respective earnings reports for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2018, executives at both Laboratory Corporation of America and Quest Diagno…
California Lab Company Closes After Negative Medicare Decision
WITH EACH NEW RULING about coverage for a proprietary diagnostic assay, Medicare officials send a message to the entire clinical laboratory industry that any lab company with a proprietary test needs to submit adequate clinical evidence that demonstrates two positive aspects of the test. First, that…
Lower Prices, More Data in UHC’s New Lab Network?
CEO SUMMARY: It’s been a common strategy among managed care payers to seek the lowest prices for clinical laboratory testing when negotiating contracts with labs. However, lower prices may become less important over time as the health system moves away from fee-for-service payment towar…
Three Labs Make Big Bets to Build Major New Facilities
EVEN AS SOME CLINICAL LABORATORY COMPANIES are closing or selling following the deep cuts in what Medicare pays for lab tests, three major lab organizations are building new, super-sized laboratory facilities. Those three companies are ARUP Laboratories, DaVita Labs…
Useful Lessons for Labs That Report PAMA Data
CEO SUMMARY: Will clinical labs heed the lessons learned from the first PAMA private payer market price reporting cycle that CMS conducted in 2017? One major difference is that the definition of applicable laboratories now includes most hospital labs. This creates the opportunity for a la…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
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