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
CMS Sanctioned Three Houston Hospitals, Labs
CEO SUMMARY: At MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, blood transfusion errors led to two patients’ deaths in separate incidents last fall. Then, this spring, a patient died in the emergency department of Ben Taub Hospital following “an ineffective process …
Bill Would Delay PAMA Reporting for One Year
CEO SUMMARY: For all laboratories that must report private payer price data under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), a new bill in congress would delay the next round of data reporting for one year and require the National Academy of Medicine to recommend ways to improve the da…
Four Insurers, Quest Developing Blockchain
CEO SUMMARY: Organizations developing blockchain technology say it is a tamper-proof method of sharing data across networks and among providers, health insurers, and health systems. The Synaptic Health Alliance includes four of the largest health insurers, a health network, and Quest Diag…
Aetna Ends Payment for Professional Component
CEO SUMMARY: As of Aug. 1, Aetna will stop paying out-of-network pathologists for the professional component review of certain clinical pathology tests. Until now, the health insurer has paid for the professional component when out-of-network labs billed for clinical lab tests using the m…
Anthem Rolling Out More Anatomic Path Price Cuts
CEO SUMMARY: Anthem is making big changes to its relationships with anatomic pathology groups. Getting most of the attention at the moment are the insurer’s letters announcing price cuts for anatomic pathology services of 50% to 70% of Medicare fees. But another major change may also tr…
AP Practices Cautioned to Focus on Expenses
CEO SUMMARY: Reviewing an AP practice’s expenses is vitally important today when payers are cutting reimbursement. In the past, government and private payers paid more for the technical and professional components of anatomic pathology work, but those rates have eroded. While conversati…
Labs Should Heed Lessons from Huge Data Breach
CEO SUMMARY: Following news last month about the biggest breach of personal health information in the clinical lab industry, lawyers representing some of the affected patients filed at least 12 class action lawsuits. Federal officials and attorneys general in multiple states also launched…
JAMA Study: 17% Fewer Pathologists Since 2007
CEO SUMMARY: The number of pathologists working in the United States declined by 17.53% from 2007 to 2017, according to recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. When adjusted for the U.S. population, the researchers said the workforce of pathologists i…
Northwell Health Lab Team Leverages Data to Add Value
CEO SUMMARY: Today, insurers get risk-adjusted payments for treating patients who have high-cost health conditions and they make risk-adjusted payments to physicians, hospitals, and other providers. At Northwell Health, the clinical lab saw the opportunity to leverage lab test data with …
Fewer Pathologists Means Tighter Market for Jobs
CEO SUMMARY: Pathologists seeking jobs will find that a more competitive job market is pushing salaries up over $300,000 per year on average. In addition, most new jobs come with a hiring bonus and funds for relocation of as much as $12,000 and for continuing medical education of $3,500. …
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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