R. Lewis Dark
Articles by R. Lewis Dark
Northwell and Memorial Health: A Tale of Two Labs
Something very unusual happened in this issue of The Dark Report. We analyzed the entirely opposite fates of two clinical laboratories owned by different healthcare systems. With apologies to author Charles Dickens and his opening sentence in his novel, a Tale of Two Cities, it c…
Any Hope for Relief from PAMA Medicare Price Cuts?
It is a notable and rare success for the clinical laboratory profession to convince the House and Senate to pass a law that is favorable to the interests of patients and the clinical laboratories that serve them. Yet that is what happened when Congress passed the Laboratory Access for Beneficiarie…
Is Health Price Transparency at Its Tipping Point?
Is it a coincidence that a number of uninsured consumers filed separate lawsuits in federal courts against Laboratory Corporation of America and Quest Diagnostics—alleging, in both cases, that they were overcharged for clinical…
Labs Face New Challenges in New Year, New Decade
TYPICALLY, PEOPLE CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW YEAR and a new decade with optimism. That should be just as true for clinical lab managers and pathologists. After all, medical laboratory testing is fundamental to how physicians diagnose disease, select the most appropriate therapies, and monitor the…
Prediction of ICD-10 as Negative for Labs Comes True
IMPLEMENTATION OF ICD-10 DIAGNOSIS CODES in the United States happened on Oct. 1, 2015. At that time, a national laboratory association predicted that use of ICD-10 codes would cause Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to pay labs less often and with lower reimbursement. The Dark Report ag…
Health Insurers Spending Billions to Diversify
CEO SUMMARY: One big development affecting the health insurance business is how four of the nation’s largest health insurers are diversifying in significant ways. Last spring, a healthcare strategist explained how each of these companies has spent billions of dollars in recent years to …
Is New Medicare Affiliation Rule Good, Bad, or Ugly?
THERE IS AN OFT-REPEATED ADAGE THAT what the government gives you with one hand, it takes away with the other. This may be an apt description of the new Medicare final rule that takes effect today, called the Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process (CMS-6058-FC). The goal o…
Are Feds Now More Serious about Prosecuting Fraud?
IS IT A COINCIDENCE THAT, IN THIS ISSUE OF THE DARK REPORT, we cover two related developments, both involving the federal government’s efforts to control healthcare fraud and abuse? First, you’ll read about the new federal rule scheduled to take effect on Nov. 4. It gives federal healthcare inve…
Opportunity for Labs to Help with Opioid Crisis
IT’S CALLED THE OPIOD CRISIS AND IT’S OFTEN A MAJOR STORY in the nightly news. In 2017, deaths from drug overdoses totaled 70,237, of which 68% (47,600) were opioid overdose deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the nation, government h…
What Comes Next for the Pathology Profession?
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…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 7 – May 12, 2025
Economic, Tech changes drive lab concerns, The Dark Report provides insights from the Executive War College speakers about how clinical labs can use business strategies and tactics to handle the new tariffs, future regulations, and artificial intelligence (AI). Also, this issue provides guidance on how labs and pathologists should prepare for payer audits.
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