Since 1995, Reliable Business Intelligence for Clinical Laboratories, Pathology Groups and Laboratory Diagnostics

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark

Winners and Losers in the Lab Industry

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

NOTHING WAS EASY FOR COMMERCIAL AND HOSPITAL LABS during the past decade. Reimbursement for lab tests was slashed. Onerous compliance requirements for Medicare increased costs and added to the legal risk of operating a laboratory. Patient access was restricted through exclusive HMO and managed care contracts. These problems took a huge toll on our industry. …

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A Pox on Millennium Talk

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

I DECIDED TO BE DIFFERENT TODAY. Most of you probably figured I would use this last opportunity before January 1 to make my millennium predictions and ruminate about the last one thousand years or so. Not so! My contrarian nature says you’ve probably already had enough of the new millennium, and the old millennium as …

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Opening Pandora’s Box

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

OUR EDITOR ONCE AGAIN HAS ANOTHER REMARKABLE PREDICTION for the clinical laboratory industry. In this issue, he predicts new point-of-care (POC) technology for routine chemistry and hematology testing will start the long- foretold process of laboratory decentralization. This follows on the heels of the last issue of THE DARK REPORT, when he predicted that web-based …

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Healthcare, Free Markets, and Consumer Choice

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

ONCE AGAIN, WE ARE PROUD TO BE FIRST TO INFORM YOU ABOUT another major development in the healthcare industry. As you will read here, physician group practices in California are about to undergo a financial meltdown. The ramifications of this will touch healthcare providers in every city around the nation. If there are widespread financial …

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Big Challenges For Clinical Laboratories

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

AS YOU WILL READ IN THIS ISSUE, IT IS A REMARKABLE PREDICTION. Our editor states that, in only 24 months, virtually every physicians office in the United States will be connected to its laboratory providers through a web-based arrangement. In my decades of watching the clinical laboratory industry, I have never seen anything approaching the …

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Hardball and Lowball in the Lab Industry

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

CLIENTS OF THE DARK REPORT and attendees at our annual Executive War College know that we are advocates for tough competition, excellence in management, and integrity in service. After all, isn’t it true that the companies many Americans annually recognize as the most respected are known for these three qualities? Certainly the recent examples of …

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Don’t Take Your Eyes Off the Ball!

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

HOW MANY OF US HAD A FATHER WHO TAUGHT US THE BASICS OF BASEBALL almost as soon as we learned to walk? I can still remember my father repeatedly advising me “don’t take your eyes off the ball!” With the recent merger of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL), the warning “don’t …

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How Hospital Lab Directors Fail Their Employees

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

EVERY NOW AND THEN I WANT TO TAKE some segment of the laboratory industry to task for things they ought to be doing. Today it will be hospital laboratory directors. Virtually every hospital lab administrator in the United States will tell you that they are concerned about the job stability and welfare of their lab …

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Applying Heat to the Pressure Cooker

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

I AM STRUCK BY THE NON-STOP TIDAL WAVE OF CHANGE which continues to strike at clinical laboratories and pathology practices. Although it may be tough to quantify the volume of change, that task becomes easier if you use each issue of THE DARK REPORT as a measuring post of change. Take this issue, for example. As …

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Choosing a Eulogy for SBCL

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / By R. Lewis Dark

What is an appropriate eulogy for SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL), soon to be acquired by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated? I would venture to say that even SBCL’s most aggressive competitors would acknowledge that it is a fine laboratory organization, noted for quality, integrity, and consistent service to its clients. Despite those characteristics, SBCL no longer survives …

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