Pathology Trends
Pathology groups face a number of challenging pathology trends in the era of radical healthcare reform.
One of the primary trends is that like clinical laboratories, these businesses are carrying significant and potentially unsustainable levels of unreimbursed services. Although bad debt and uncompensated care in the healthcare industry are not new, they have been increasing at the same time that downward pressure is being applied to pathology reimbursement.
Medical laboratories and pathology groups are also facing enormous levels of change in their clinical, regulatory and financial environments. As the Affordable Care Act is implemented, laboratories see downward pressure on reimbursement at both the federal and payer level, coupled with increased emphasis on efficiency and quality.
Labs and health care providers need to seriously consider moving toward a retail business model. Changes in the health insurance market are now requiring patients to pay more out of pocket, and the perfect storm of bad debt and decreased requirement is pressuring laboratories.
Other pathology trends include:
- Growing emphasis on the continuum of care
- Increasing patient interaction directly with the lab organization
- Mounting demands of interoperability across a proliferation of disparate information technology systems to achieve meaningful use
- Evolving requirements for communication and data sharing with payers, accountable care organizations (ACOs), health information exchanges (HIEs) and other trading partners
Industry observers say that responding to each of these trends requires access to the most complete set of patient data possible. Accurate patient identification and record consolidation is central to achieving these goals.
In addition, labs and pathologists are increasingly urged to add value to the testing services they perform by leveraging information technology. For instance, advanced health information technology can be deployed within clinical labs and pathology groups specifically to meet changing patient expectations, while supporting the needs of client physicians for optimal workflow.
Why Wall Street Likes Histology Lab Business
CEO SUMMARY: Over the past two decades, investor-owned anatomic pathology companies captured significant market share from community hospital-based pathology groups while delivering profits to their owners. Despite the recent downturn in the economy, Wall Street believes histolog…
Denver’s UniPath Sells Its Histo Labs to APP
CEO SUMMARY: UniPath ended a long search for a business partner with ample capital and resources to help it continue its aggressive rates of growth in specimen volume, market share, and revenue. UniPath announced the sale of its technical laboratories to American Pathology Partne…
Pathology Boot Camp to Address Three Trends
CEO SUMMARY: Anatomic pathology groups across the nation must develop effective strategies to address challenges in pricing, intensifying competition, and expensive new technologies. That’s the assertion of three pathology practice administrators who have organized a boot camp in Dallas…
Labs in British Columbia Meet Tough PT Standards
CEO SUMMARY: Facing a crisis due to several highly publicized deficiencies in lab testing, pathologists in Canada are using proficiency testing (PT) to improve standards. In British Columbia, PT is mandatory and every lab is evaluated every quarter. Pathologists in BC recommend that every…
Canadian Pathologists Start PT Testing for ER/PR
CEO SUMMARY: Experts point out that widely publicized episodes of lab testing deficiencies in several provinces are signs that chronic underfunding of lab testing services is a key factor in these failures. To restore public confidence in breast cancer testing, the Canadian Association of…
HealthPartners Promotes Same-Day Lab Test Results
CEO SUMMARY: Patient focus groups told HealthPartners that they had anxiety as they waited days for lab test results. That encouraged HealthPartners to redesign workflows in its pathology department. Once it could deliver same-day lab test results electronically, HealthPartners launched a…
Powerful Trends Reshaping Anatomic Path Profession
CEO SUMMARY: THE DARK REPORT presents its newest biannual review of macro trends reshaping the anatomic pathology profession. These macro trends reveal a profession undergoing change and transformation on multiple fronts. New competitors are crowding into the market, payers and accreditin…
Path Group Closes Its Lab After GIs Do In-Clinic Lab
CEO SUMMARY: Kettering Pathology Associates of Kettering, Ohio, built a thriving outreach pathology business in this Dayton suburb before three gastroenterology groups either sent biopsy work out of state or built their own lab, and asked the pathologists to provide contracted professiona…
An Economic Perspective On Discounted PC Deals
CEO SUMMARY: By opening their own in-office pathology laboratories, specialist physicians are undermining a long-established referral relationship with the pathology profession. Pathologists are debating the merits of this market-based trend and its effect on their profession. However thi…
PSA, MED3000 Merger Creates Opportunities
CEO SUMMARY: Pathology Service Associates, LLC, has found a merger partner that will allow it to offer more products to its pathology clients and to expand into new service areas. By merging with MED3000 of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PSA also gains access to enhanced informatics capabiliti…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
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.