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

Volume XII No. 10 - July 11, 2005

Using OIG Advisory Opinions to Level Playing Field

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

TWICE DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has issued a negative opinion on a marketplace arrangement between a laboratory company and a physician group. The most recent was OIG Advisory Opinion 05-08, released on June 13, 2005 and responding to a request to evaluate how a lab might reimburse …

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Nichols Diagnostics Stops Product Sales

Laboratory Equipment / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: It’s an odd story. One of the nation’s most respected names in diagnostics quietly ceases delivering products—and no one in the laboratory industry pays much attention. Last month, Nichols Institute Diagnostics, acknowledging production problems it has not yet resolved, announced to its laboratory customers throughout the United States that deliveries of its diagnostic …

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New OIG Opinion 05-08 On Phlebotomy Fees

Laboratory Compliance / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: At the request of a yet-unidentified laboratory, the Office of the Inspector General issued Advisory Opinion 05-08 last month. It is a negative opinion on a proposed arrangement where a laboratory would reimburse client physicians as much as $6 for each blood draw performed by the physician and/or his staff. It is unlikely …

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Michel Wins Investigative Reporting Award from Peers

Clinical Laboratory / By Robert Michel

IN A PRESTIGIOUS JOURNALISM CONTEST conducted by NEPA (Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Association), THE DARK REPORT’S Editor-In-Chief, Robert L. Michel, was recognized last month in the category of “best investigative reporting” for his story series on anatomic pathology laboratory condominiums. (See TDRs, July 19, 2004 and August 9, 2004.) This journalism award is confirmation for …

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Payer Consolidation: United Buys Pacificare

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: For the second time in nine months, a health insurer company has spent around $9 billion to grow by acquisition. This time, it is UnitedHealth Group purchasing PacifiCare Health Systems. These types of deals impact local labs and pathology groups as existing contracts expire. However, the most interesting wild card is consumer-driven healthcare …

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Consumer-Directed Healthcare by Mango

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: This former laboratory executive declares that Consumer-Driven Healthcare Plans (CDHPs) are “the most significant development in health insurance since the widespread introduction of HMOs in the 1980s.” Paul Mango, now at McKinsey & Co., has plenty of good news for lab managers and pathologists. He predicts that CDHPs will drive deep reforms across …

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Techniques to Defend Against Patient ID Theft

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: It’s a crime that can strike anyone anywhere— and usually without warning. In fact, identity theft is the July 4 cover story in Newsweek Magazine. However, clients of THE DARK REPORT got the lab industry’s first warnings on this fast-growing crime months ago. To help labs prepare to deal with this threat, Attorneys …

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Amazing New IT Products Arriving in Healthcare Market

Laboratory Equipment / By Robert Michel

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS are triggering a flow of remarkable new information technology (IT) products into the healthcare marketplace. Not all of these products will gain a foothold, but some have the potential to trigger radical changes in how information flows between patient, provider, and payer. Here’s a round-up of IT products that THE DARK REPORT finds …

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“July 11, 2005 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Late Breaking Lab News / By Robert Michel

There’s been strong growth at two companies featured in Fortune Magazine’s 2005 list of “America’s Fastest-Growing Small Public Companies.” Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. earned a ranking as number 28 on the list. Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. was ranked at number 64. Another company of interest which made the list was Meridian Bioscience, Inc., listed at number …

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