Reliable Business Intelligence News About Clinical Laboratories, Pathology Groups, & Laboratory
Diagnostics Since 1995
The most complete archive of clinical and pathology lab industry news available, including issues from 1997 to the present.
WHAT ARE PATHOLOGISTS AND LAB EXECUTIVES TALKING ABOUT when they gather at lab industry conferences? If the hallway chats between sessions and dinner conversations that occurred last week at Executive War College are representative, then the clinical lab profession is closely tracking UnitedHealthcare, BeaconLBS and Theranos.
HOW CAN CLINICAL LABS FIGHT OFF the ongoing decline of test reimbursement prices? One enterprising pathology team in Seattle, WA, shows how their determined effort created an organization that involves lab scientists in helping physicians select the best test for the patient. Meanwhile, back at Theranos, intriguing developments are afoot.
IT WAS LOUIS PASTEUR who said that “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” As clinical labs and pathology groups struggle to get on board the ACO train, you’ll find ample evidence and lessons learned of this in our report on North Shore Pathologists and their ongoing engagement with the Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin, it was the foresight and preparation of the group in years before the formation of this integrated care network that helped them convince the organizers that there was a useful role for pathologists. This issue also continues THE DARK REPORT’s detailed reporting on the chaos that is UnitedHealthcare’s laboratory benefit management program rollout in Florida.
IN TODAY’S EVOLVING HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, labs and pathology groups of all sizes in all communities are dealing with the issues of payers narrowing networks and the formation of ACOs. But enterprising lab pathologists in Seattle and a small community hospital in New Hampshire are showing their colleagues the way forward. Meanwhile, UnitedHealthcare’s new test management program starts to impact physicians and patients in Florida.
THE DARK REPORT tells the remarkable story in this issue about how a huge national insurance company wants to cram a poorly-designed system for ordering lab tests down the throats of thousands of very unhappy doctors in the Sunshine State – a program that could be coming to a state near you. Also covered in this issue is an analysis of how the coming PAMA requirements aimed at cutting lab test prices over time will impact community labs, and an in-depth look at how a clinical lab has become one of the first ever to earn joint CLIA and ISO 15189 accreditations with the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).
DID THERANOS dismiss its CLIA lab director? As always, rumor runs rampant with the ever-secretive, self-proclaimed lab industry disruptor, and questions remain about the possible departure of this individual – without a new job in sight. Meanwhile, in the search for ways to add more value to lab testing services, pathologists and lab administrators are considering organizing diagnostic management teams within their hospitals, with specific lessons that can be learned by all their colleagues.
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.
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.
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.
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 XXXIII, No. 4 – March 23, 2026
A federal court ruling has established a safe harbor for clinical labs when they run tests ordered by physicians. Lab leaders should examine this briefing for pitfalls. Also, it turns out that providers may be ordering inappropriate vitamin D tests, according to one expert.
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