Volume XXVII, No. 11 - August 3, 2020 Archives

Amazon Targets COVID-19 Testing in its New Lab-Building Venture

This is an excerpt of a 1,980-word article in the August 3, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: For pathologists and clinical lab directors, Amazon’s nascent COVID-19 testing venture for employees could be a significant concern given that the e-commerce company could disrupt […]

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COVID-19 Changes Lab and Pathology Profession

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

WE ARE ENTERING THE SEVENTH MONTH OF THE SARS-COV-2 OUTBREAK and some public health authorities predict that new cases of COVID-19 will continue through the fall and into 2021. If true, this will not be auspicious for the nation’s clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. The current clinical and business model of clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology operations

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UHC Ready to Implement New Lab Test Registry

Laboratory Billing / Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: UnitedHealthcare announced that its new Test-Registry Protocol will become effective on Jan. 1, 2021, creating a major billing hurdle for labs and pathology groups. By that date, a lab must register each type of test before it can submit claims for these tests to the nation’s largest health insurer. In some ways, UHC’s test registry resembles the Medicare

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UHC Issues Details about How Labs Register Tests

Laboratory Billing / Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: As of January 1, UnitedHealthcare will require all clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups to register every type of test before labs can bill for those tests. Not only is the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting normal activity, but the administrative burden UHC is imposing will be substantial for all of UHC’s in-network labs and pathology groups, as well as for

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Amazon Building Labs to Do COVID-19 Testing

Clinical Laboratory Trends / Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: For pathologists and clinical lab directors, Amazon’s nascent lab-testing venture for employees could be a significant concern given that the e-commerce company could disrupt the clinical lab business nationwide. The online retail giant has long had an interest in medical diagnostics and has a reputation for disrupting other industries by acquiring or starting companies in such diverse fields as

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Employers, Others Looking to Build New Clinical Labs

Clinical Laboratory Trends / Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Employers, universities, municipalities, and other large organizations are interested in building their own clinical laboratories. In addition, entrepreneurs—many with no prior experience in laboratory medicine—want to make money providing COVID-19 testing. Many of these entities seek to provide a safe work environment and limit their legal liability associated with COVID-19, and they want their own clinical laboratories to ensure adequate

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In Just 13 Days, Lab Buys, Validates & Uses Analyzer

Laboratory Equipment / Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: In response to the nationwide outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, clinical labs are introducing new analyzers whenever possible to boost testing capacity. Pre-pandemic, buying and installing new instruments could take at least two months, and that timeline can go longer now. But because of advance planning, working closely with its instrument vendor, and adjusting on the fly when needed, a 161-bed

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IVD Firms Report Boom in Sales of COVID-19 Instruments, Tests

In Vitro Diagnostics / Robert Michel

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, second quarter earnings reports were a good news/bad news situation for most of the nation’s major in vitro diagnostic (IVD) companies. The good news was that demand for COVID-19 tests meant increased sales and revenues for IVD firms selling those products. But the collapse in routine lab testing that happened in March, April, May, and June was bad news

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Globally-Respected Pathologist Juan Rosai, MD, Dies at 79

Anatomic Pathology / Robert Michel

Internationally-respected pathologist Juan Rosai, MD, died on July 7, at the age of 79, in Milan, Italy. Although born in Italy, his distinguished career in surgical pathology started in the United States in the early 1970s, where he practiced until moving to Italy in 1999. Among many accomplishments, he is known for his textbook, “Rosai and Ackerman’s Surgical Pathology,” now in its 10th edition. He

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