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

Volume XXVII, Number 18 - December 28, 2020

Top 10 2020 Lab Stories Are about More than Just COVID-19

This is an excerpt of a 3,689-word article in the December 28, 2020 issue of  THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: There are several surprises in The Dark Report’s list of the Top 10 Lab Stories for 2020. Despite the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic dominating …

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Managing Labs in Two Dimensions in 2021

EXPECT 2021 TO BE JUST AS CHALLENGING A YEAR for lab management as was 2020. This will be true not only because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Other important factors will complicate the operation of clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups in the new year.  One reason is the lab management duality that I described in …

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2020’s Top 10 Lab Stories Are Without Precedent!

CEO SUMMARY: There are several surprises in The Dark Report’s list of the Top 10 Lab Stories for 2020. Despite the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic dominating every aspect of clinical care, social life, and economic activities since March, at least one major health insurer pushed ahead with two major policies governing how labs can submit claims. In …

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UK Postpones Mass COVID Testing Plan Due to Questions of Accuracy

IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, A MASS COVID-19 TESTING PLAN called “Operation Moonshot” is on hold until at least the end of January. Under the plan, health ministers sought to increase daily SARS-CoV-2 testing from 430,000 to 10 million Englanders per day.  Inaccurate early results from a newly-launched, same-day, at-home COVID-19 lateral-flow test caused officials to …

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OIG Says Medicare Spending On Testing Increased in 2019

CEO SUMMARY: Newly-released data indicates that Medicare officials are falling far short of their goal to decrease the total amount of money spent annually on Part B clinical laboratory tests. That is one finding by the federal Office of the Inspector General in its report of Medicare lab test spending during 2019. Despite deep cuts …

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THE DARK REPORT’s Ranking of 2019’s Top 10 IVD Companies

One trend continues to reshape the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry year after year: acquisitions.  Since the 1990s, the biggest IVD companies have frequently used acquisitions to boost their revenue and keep shareholders happy. But acquisitions have another consequence. The clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups buying instruments, automation, and test kits from one IVD …

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Congress Passes Bill to Ban Surprise Medical Bills

Starting Jan. 1, 2022, out-of-network clinical laboratories may no longer be allowed to bill patients for lab tests performed in certain settings under a law both houses of Congress passed on Dec. 21.  The COVID relief bill includes a ban on unexpected medical bills from some out-of-network providers, such as clinical laboratories, anatomic pathologists, anesthesiologists, …

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New Federal Rule: Non-Physician Providers Can Supervise Testing

SUMMARY: It’s the latest example of how interim rules issued earlier this year in response to the pandemic are being made permanent by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Issued on Dec. 2, this new final rule allows certain non-physician practitioners—including nurse practitioners and physician assistants—to supervise diagnostic testing. Clinical labs will want …

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December 28, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News

Seattle is the latest city to open walk-up kiosks for COVID-19 testing that allow individuals to collect their own saliva, then hand the specimen to a worker in the booth for overnight testing. Three such kiosks are now in operation. Curative, based in San Dimas, Calif., performs the testing using a molecular SARS-CoV-2 test that …

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