From the Volume XXVI No. 12 – September 3, 2019 issue
IT MAY NOT BE A COINCIDENCE THAT MANY RECENT NEWS CYCLES have more negative pathology news than positive pathology news. After all, laboratory medicine is at the core of most clinical care delivered to patients, so it’s no coincidence that pathology—both clinical and anatomic—is a prime target for government and private payers, along with federal investigators.
The
From the Volume XXVI No. 11 – August 12, 2019 issue
ONCE AGAIN, A HIGH-PROFILE LAB COMPANY faces allegations of fraud and abuse. This time it is True Health Diagnostics of Frisco, Texas. Details of this case were revealed last month when True Health filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Texas against the agencies running the federal Medicare program.
In its lawsuit, True Health denies
From the Volume XXVI No. 10 – July 22, 2019 issue
Due to medical errors, three patients died in three Houston hospitals in a short period of time. Each adverse event led to inspections by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and sanctions as tough as revocation of deemed status for participation in the Medicare program.
That these events came so closely together, at
From the Volume XXVI No. 9 – July 1, 2019 issue
TWO OF THE NATION’S LARGER HEALTH INSURERS—AETNA AND ANTHEM— ARE CUTTING WHAT THEY PAY for the professional component of certain clinical and anatomic pathology codes.
In its communications with pathology groups about this policy change, Aetna says it will no longer pay for most clinical laboratory claims submitted with the modifier 26 for professional component services.
From the Volume XXVI No. 8 – June 10, 2019 issue
Did the number of active pathologists practicing in the United States actually shrink by 17.53% between 2007 and 2017? That is the conclusion of a study published on May 31 by the online Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This startling finding is our lead story in this issue.
A research team of five pathologists
From the Volume XXVI No. 7 – May 20, 2019 issue
INTERESTING THINGS ARE UNFOLDING within the profession of anatomic pathology. If the adage of “follow the money” applies to understanding why things happen, then recent events support some surprising conclusions.
Take the news reported in this issue of The Dark Report that PathGroup of Nashville is acquiring Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories (PBML) of Dallas. That brings together two regional
From the Volume XXVI No. 6 – April 29, 2019 issue
Across the nation, clinical laboratories struggle to correctly interpret and follow the new National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) guidelines that took effect on Jan. 1. A financial disaster lies ahead for many labs.
“The denials are very high right now and those denials are nationwide,” stated Kyle Fetter, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Diagnostic
From the Volume XXVI No. 5 – April 8, 2019 issue
Our Editor-In-Chief just finished the daunting task of confirming 125 speakers for more than 80 sessions for our 24th annual Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management. It is our biggest conference ever! These facts are significant to you for an important reason.
The planning phase for an Executive War College requires requires hundreds of
From the Volume XXVI No. 4 – March 18, 2019 issue
THERE IS A NEW FAVORITE WORD WALL STREET ANALYST USE when they want to describe an industry that is going to experience tough times that will make it difficult for companies to grow and remain profitable. That word is “headwinds” and it can aptly be applied to the multiple tough challenges that are about to
From the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
BIGGER PATHOLOGY GROUPS AND METROWIDE OR STATEWIDE COVERAGE will be major characteristics in the anatomic pathology profession as healthcare continues to transform in new ways. That is why the reasons for the substantial growth in case volume and revenue at North Shore Pathologists (NSP) in Milwaukee should be studied by pathology groups everywhere.
It was a practice
