From the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
It may be timely to ask a provocative question that touches everyone in the profession of laboratory medicine. Is there a future for community laboratories and hospital lab outreach programs in the United States, given the different forces acting upon the clinical laboratory industry today?
In this issue, our editorial team describes the multiple disruptive consequences
From the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
Each time a new year approaches, it is natural to look ahead and think about what the next 12 months will bring. My bet is that certain sectors of the clinical laboratory industry are soon to experience substantial disruption.
This disruption will come in two forms. First, federal regulators will be tougher on labs that violate
From the Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018 issue
Traditionally, the new year is a time of optimism. People make resolutions such as exercising more and losing weight. Companies get to start the year with a fresh budget and the new opportunity to achieve their goals.
Unfortunately, events of the last 90 days of this year are not auspicious for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology
From the Volume XXV No. 16 – November 13, 2018 issue
How many consecutive 10% and 15% cuts to the prices Medicare pays for clinical laboratory tests can smaller community labs absorb before they are forced to shut their doors and go out of business? This nation is about to find out. As this happens, Medicare beneficiaries (and their physicians) in small towns and rural areas
From the Volume XXV No. 15 – October 22, 2018 issue
There is an important new development in the lawsuit in federal court that challenges how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is implementing the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). An appeal was filed by attorneys representing the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA).
On Friday, Oct. 19, the ACLA’s lead attorney on the case, Mark D.
From the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
Every pathologist and clinical lab administrator should pay attention to two federal court decisions made recently in two different legal cases. One decision is bad news for the entire clinical lab industry. The other is bad news for lab companies that push compliance with federal anti-kickback laws.
The most important court decision came in the American
From the Volume XXV No. 13 – September 10, 2018 issue
STEP BY STEP, HEALTHCARE IN THE UNITED STATES is moving toward a system in which clinical care is fully integrated and providers are reimbursed for the value they provide. This trend presents clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups with a challenge and an opportunity.
The challenge comes because being a value-added contributor requires labs to adopt
From the Volume XXV No. 12 – August 20, 2018 issue
FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, leaders and forward-thinkers in the pathology profession bemoaned the fact that lab tests and anatomic pathology services were priced as commodities. From the podiums of various lab and healthcare conferences, they urged their peers to identify, document, and educate health insurers and others about the true value of lab tests.
All
From the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
RECENTLY TWO OF THE NATION’S LARGEST HEALTH INSURERS abandoned a managed care contracting strategy that they adopted 11 years ago. Back in 2007, UnitedHealthcare and Aetna each were willing to grant exclusive national provider status to a single lab company in exchange for deeply-discounted lab best prices. (See TDRs, Oct. 16, 2006, Feb. 19, 2007, and
From the Volume XXV No. 10 – July 9, 2018 issue
IT’S TIME FOR ALL CLINICAL LABS AND ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY GROUPS to pay closer attention to the advances in genetic medicine and precision medicine. Events are moving even faster than most experts have predicted.
As you will read on pages 3-4, two innovative health networks are on the verge of offering sophisticated genetic tests to patients visiting
