Issues Archive

The most complete archive of clinical and pathology lab industry news available, including issues from 1997 to the present.

Volume XXII No. 1 – January 5, 2015

In this issue:

DISSATISFACTION AND RUMBLINGS OF REVOLT are coming out of Florida, as physicians there are being forced to comply with a specific system of lab test pre-notification and pre-authorization required by UnitedHealthcare’s laboratory benefits management program rollout in that state. THE DARK REPORT also offers expert analysis of the lab industry’s bad players and how they manage not only to survive, but to profit handsomely.

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Volume XXI No. 17 – December 15, 2014

In this issue:

THE TOP 10 STORIES FOR 2014, reflecting a sweeping transformation of the nation’s healthcare system, are included in this issue. These stories, including the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, deep price cuts for many lab tests, the continued rise of Theranos without any clear evidence of its self-proclaimed disruptive technology, and the standoff between UnitedHealthcare and Florida physicians over the insurer’s new laboratory benefit management program, will continue to have a painful impact on clinical labs and pathology groups over the next few years.

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Volume XXI No.16 – November 24, 2014

In this issue:

THE DARK REPORT DELIVERS LEVEL TWO of its groundbreaking Value Pyramid in this issue, along with the news that several innovative labs are seizing the opportunity to develop and deliver lab testing services that add more value to physicians and patients, recognizing that fee-for-service reimbursement is on the way out. In this issue is also an analysis of the FDA’s possible intent and fallout from its decision to regulate lab-developed tests.

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Volume XXI No. 15 – November 3, 2014

In this issue:

FLORIDA OB-GYNS ARE CALLING FOR A HALT to UnitedHealthcare’s controversial lab test management system, with some even planning to work around it, as THE DARK REPORT notes in this issue. Meanwhile, Cigna has brought an $84 million lawsuit against Health Diagnostic Laboratory of Virginia for alleged schemes to defraud the health insurer. There is, however, at least some good news, as LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics both reported increased earnings for Q 3, citing greater sales and specimen volume driven by the companies’ recent acquisitions.

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Volume XXI No. 14 – October 13, 2014

In this issue:

SOME FLORIDA PHYSICIANS ARE DECLARING their intent to leave UnitedHealthcare’s network because they find the insurer’s new BeaconLBS laboratory benefit management system to be time consuming and onerous. The defections come as the program goes through a soft launch that began on October 1. Apparently in response to physician complaints, UHC announced a delay in the date when it will begin to use BeaconLBS to make coverage decisions on certain lab tests. Also, doctors at Johns Hopkins have improved lab test utilization of cardiac testing, helping the health system save $1.3 million over 12 months.

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Volume XXI No. 13 – September 22, 2014

In this issue:

FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS ARE LOOKING INTO possible violations of the antikickback law by a number of labs offering cardiology tests. The labs under investigation are alleged to have paid physicians processing fees of up to $20 per patient, the Wall Street Journal reported in a front page story. The labs under scrutiny deny that they violated federal and state antikickback laws. Additionally, there is the potential for federal prosecutors to bring enforcement action against physicians who accepted the processing fees. Also, a group of lab collaborators proposes a four-level laboratory value pyramid as an effective roadmap to guide labs from their current state to a future state that delivers the right value to stakeholders.

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Volume XXI No. 12 – September 2, 2014

In this issue:

ACROSS THE U.S., clinical labs, histology labs, and pathology groups are experiencing both a much longer payment cycle for claims and a decreased gross collection rate. Blame can be placed on several trends. One trend is the steady increase in the number of patients with high-deductible health plans. Another trend involves payers implementing detrimental changes to their out-of-network payment policies. Collectively, these facts are making it tougher for labs to get paid. Also, a Florida family practice physician says the new UnitedHealthcare requirement to obtain a pre-notification number for 81 lab tests by using the BeaconLBS system is “onerous” and will cause significant “work flow interruptions for office-based physicians.”

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Volume XXI No. 11 – August 11, 2014

In this issue:

ONE OF THE BIGGEST UNKNOWNS in the lab testing industry today is Theranos, the lab testing company based in Palo Alto, California. It says its proprietary technology is poised to transform the lab testing experience for patients and physicians, allowing it to perform hundreds of lab tests, using a finger stick collection with a micro-specimen and return results in four hours. THE DARK REPORT sent its editor to have Theranos perform lab tests for him and his physician, and he reports on his experience here.

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Volume XXI No. 10 – July 21, 2014

In this issue:

SWIFT TRANSFORMATION of the American healthcare system is causing financial challenges for those clinical labs and pathology groups that have been slow to react to these developments. At NorDx Laboratories in Scarborough, Maine, the team is following the classic five rules for laboratory success. However, as NorDx CEO Stan Schofield said in his presentation at the Executive War College in April, in today’s more competitive marketplace, it is essential to drop the “old school” execution of these essential rules and adopt “new school” approaches to be successful. Also, lab executives asked to join UnitedHealth’s new BeaconLBS lab benefit management system in Florida have multiple concerns. The primary issue is that BeaconLBS is a subsidiary of LabCorp—their major competitor.

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Volume XXI No. 9 – June 30, 2014

In this issue:

CHANGES IN HEALTHCARE are motivating insurers and the nation’s largest lab testing companies to enter into contracts in which the large lab company lowers its lab test prices to the payer in return for having the payer exclude that lab company’s toughest competitors from the payer’s provider network. Also, one expert says the next three years will bring major changes to healthcare including a swift adoption of budgeted, not value-based care, more consolidation that creates behemoth health systems, and a shift from a vertical business model to a horizontal business model. For labs, he predicts that this consolidation will reduce the number of customers.

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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.

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