R. Lewis Dark
Articles by R. Lewis Dark
For Labs, a Little Angel and Devil Sit Behind Z-Codes
Much lies underneath the surface of UnitedHealthcare’s (UHC) new policy mandating Z-code use for molecular tests covered under its commercial health plans. It’s a developme…
Healthcare Megatrends and a Famous Book
PREDICTING THE FUTURE IS A RISKY BUSINESS. SKEPTICS ARE ALWAYS AROUND TO CALL ATTENTION TO PROPHETS WHO GET IT WRONG. One prophet whose predictions were on target was author John Naisbitt. Those of us around in…
What’s Next in 2023 for Clinical Laboratories?
AS YOU OPEN THIS ISSUE OF THE DARK REPORT, in New Orleans, about 900 senior lab administrators, executives, and pathologists will be gathered at the 28th annual Executive War College on …
Come One, Come All to the Executive War College
THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOU LONG-TIME READERS WHO EVERY SPRING SEE NEWS about the Executive War College on Diagnostics, Laboratory, and Pathology Management, tell yourself that you need to attend, but then you…
Acquisitions Bloom, at the Expense of Hospital Labs?
READERS WILL UNCOVER A THEME OF MERGERS AND CONSOLIDATIONS running throughout this issue of The Dark Report. Whether it be health systems acquiring or merging with each other or national laboratory companies seeking to run hospital lab businesses, it is an unstable time for …
Building Collaborations to Deliver More Value
Innovative clinical laboratory leaders closely monitoring the financial health of their labs or hospitals will find plenty to chew on in this issue of The Dark Report. The laboratory team at Atrium Health in Charlotte, N…
Alert! Changes to CLIA Accreditation, CLIA Revisions
MEDICAL LABORATORIES HAVE LIVED WITH THE REGULATIONS FOR THE CLINICAL LABORATORY IMPROVEMENTS AMENDMENTS (CLIA) since they were first implemented in 1992. Over the past 30 years there has been no major revision or updating of CLIA regulations. Nor has there been much change in the long-standing statu…
PAMA Cuts Have Simply Been Kicked Down the Road
PAYMENT RATE CUTS FOR CLINICAL LABORATORY TESTS, called for under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA), have been avoided temporarily—again. A down-to-the-wire bill in Congress to keep the federal government funded into the new year in…
Two Positive Messages to Focus on at Year’s End
Clinical laboratory managers and anatomic pathologists are winding down another tumultuous year for the healthcare industry. It was a year marked by unexpected twists and turns. It was also a year marked by two positive developments for labs. First, the…
Innovations Might Reduce Need for Phlebotomists
ALREADY A SERIOUS PROBLEM PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, the shortage of trained phlebotomists continues to grow more serious with each passing month. Some clinical laboratories are offering wages of $25 per hour or more and say they cannot attract enough candidates to hire and train for this essential role….
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 14 – October 6, 2025
The Dark Report examines increasing healthcare costs for employers and how clinical labs can help those employers. Also, an in-depth case study shows how one hospital system regained its outreach program after originally ceding it to a national lab company, adding millions to the system’s bottom line.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
Lab leaders rely on THE DARK REPORT for actionable intelligence on important developments in the business of laboratory testing. Maximize the money you make-and the money you keep! Best of all, it is released every three weeks!
Sign up for TDR Insider
Join the Dark Intelligence Group FREE and get TDR Insider FREE!
Never miss a single update on the issues that matter to you and your business.