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

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark

Labs Should Leverage Their “Crown Jewels”

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

ONE NEW FEATURE of our annual Executive War College every May is a Lab CEO SUMMIT which takes place on the Thursday after the Tuesday-Wednesday event. It attracts a growing number of senior lab executives and pathologists who come to explore the strategic directions of the lab industry and pathology profession. This year’s Lab CEO […]

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Is Your Lab Still Making Buggy Whips?

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

OUR FIFTH ANNUAL Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management is just around the corner. In just a few days, on May 16-17, 400 laboratory executives, administrators and pathologists will gather in New Orleans to learn the latest innovations in the management and operation of laboratories. That makes it timely for this crusty curmudgeon

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Laboratory Regionalization Enters a New Phase

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

REGIONALIZATION OF LABORATORY SERVICES has been the primary theme behind all major changes to the clinical lab industry since the mid-1980s. There have been several phases, such as commercial lab consolidation, and hospital lab consolidation. But a constant factor underlying each of these phases has been the increased regionalization of lab services. THE DARK REPORT

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Looking for Laboratory Leadership

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / Robert Michel

ONE ASPECT OF LABORATORY MANAGEMENT which is seldom discussed is the topic of leadership. Pure and simple, every laboratory organization and pathology group practice needs an effective leader if it is to survive and prosper. This is particularly true as reimbursement for lab services continues to shrink from year to year. In too many laboratory

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Being the Biggest Doesn’t Guarantee Success

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

NEWS THAT ANOTHER HEALTHCARE GIANT is in financial trouble and the object of an unwanted acquisition offer should not be surprising. Even if Aetna, Inc. is purchased by WellPoint Health Insurance Networks Inc. and ING Group NV, the new buyers must fix the same problems now plaguing the nation’s largest health insurer. (See page 8.)

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Proposed Federal Budget Threatens Laboratories

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

BY NOW MOST OF YOU KNOW THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON’S FY01 BUDGET is not kind to the clinical laboratory industry. It seeks to restore the 20% copayment for lab services, cuts 30% out of the reimbursement for four tests, and institutes the Medicare competitive bidding concept for lab services. Over the last 15 years, the track

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New Blood Entering the Lab Industry

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

SURPRISE! THERE’S A QUIET MANAGEMENT REVOLUTION UNDER WAY in both the clinical laboratory industry and pathology profession. During the past few years, a steady flow of new-thinking Presidents and CEOs have taken control of laboratories, pathology group practices, and vendor companies. From CEO Ken Freeman of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated to CEO James New of AmeriPath,

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Winners and Losers in the Lab Industry

Commentary and Opinion by R. Lewis Dark / 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 / 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 / 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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