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

Volume IX No. 16 - November 18, 2002

More Consolidation: Where Will It Lead?

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

I CERTAINLY DID NOT FORESEE ALL THE LAB ACQUISITION ACTIVITY that occurred during 2002. Compared to recent years, both Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and Laboratory Corporation of America have been on a buying spree this year. Quest Diagnostics acquired American Medical Laboratories in April and has an agreement to acquire Unilab Corporation, pending a decision by …

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Another Lab Acquisition: LabCorp To Buy DIANON

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings will pay almost $598 million to buy DIANON Systems, Inc. of Stratford, Connecticut. With this move, anatomic pathology becomes a high profile growth target for LabCorp. During the past eight years, DIANON Systems has built a national business providing highly specialized anatomic pathology and esoteric testing services to …

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Why DIANON Sale Alters Anatomic Path Market

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: By acquiring DIANON Systems, LabCorp raises the level of competition for tissue specimens originating in physicians’ offices. LabCorp’s acquisition is also a validation of predictions that cancer diagnostics will be a high-growth segment of laboratory medicine. Anatomic pathologists have ample warning that new national competitors will soon attempt to capture local physician accounts. …

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“Direct-to-Consumer” Ad Runs in New York Times

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Two pioneering advertising campaigns launched in September. Both Myriad Genetics and IMPATH targeted consumers with advertisements about diagnostic testing. In each case, the most vocal response to the advertising came from within the medical community. Within the pathology profession, IMPATH’s full-page advertisement in the New York Times Sunday Magazine was not well-received by …

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Tenet’s Outlier Medicare Fees Put It in Unwelcome Spotlight

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

MEDICARE CODING AND BILLING policies at Tenet Healthcare Corporation have come under scrutiny by both Medicare officials and Wall Street analysts. Attention is centered around how Tenet aggressively pursued Medicare reimbursement under “outlier” formulas. These formulas are designed to supplement DRG reimbursement when a hospital treats patients with particularly complex health problems. Huge Jump In …

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Academic Center Lab Implementing Six Sigma

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Fairview-University Medical Center’s laboratory may be the nation’s first academic center laboratory to deploy Six Sigma and Lean management systems. Administration expects Six Sigma to accelerate the rate at which improvements in quality and productivity can be realized. The laboratory’s first black belt candidate is in training and enthusiasm is building among the …

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OraSure, Abbott, CDC, American Cancer Society

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

Editors Note: There’s increasing pressure for the American healthcare system to deliver improved healthcare out- comes in a cost-effective manner. Not surprisingly, laboratory testing is recognized as a high-impact, low-cost way to accomplish both goals. Here’s a sampling of important healthcare initiatives which emphasize lab testing as essential to higher quality healthcare. FDA APPROVES 20-MINUTE …

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“November 18, 2002 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

Antitrust regulators are signaling displeasure about a growing number of business activities in healthcare. Timothy Muris, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), was in Chicago on November 7 to address a group of lawyers and business people. He told them that the FTC “continues to see a wide variety of overt anticompetitive behavior in …

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