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Phlebotomist Describes Questionable Lab Practices

Laboratory Compliance / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: While working in the office of a physician who was a client of Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a phlebotomist says he was instructed to write the same 10 diagnoses on every test requisition a doctor sent to HDL, a lab company in Richmond, Virginia. HDL is under federal investigation, according to published reports. The same 10 diagnoses were recorded for every patient even though some of these tests were appropriate only for women, the source said.

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Federal Judge Lets Trial Proceed in Case against Quest

Laboratory Compliance / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: Four California labs have charged that Quest Diagnostics engaged in predatory pricing in a case filed originally in November 2012. After the lawsuit was amended last summer and fall, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III heard various motions in the case. On February 6 he ruled that the case could proceed against …

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Medicaid Suits in Two States Accuse Quest, LabCorp of Fraud

Laboratory Compliance / By Robert Michel

RECENTLY TWO WHISTLEBLOWER LAWSUITS, each alleging Medicaid fraud by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and Laboratory Corporation of America, have become public knowledge. One case is in Virginia and the other case is in Georgia. Both lawsuits were filed by Hunter Laboratories, LLC, of Campbell, California, and its CEO Chris Riedel. Both lawsuits involve charges of alleged …

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Tennessee AG Opinion Adds Unease to EHR Donation Issue

Laboratory Compliance / By Robert Michel

ANOTHER STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL (AG) has issued an opinion on the donations of electronic health record (EHR) systems by clinical laboratories to referring physicians. The opinion says that such donations would violate Tennessee state law. The Tennessee AG’s opinion is similar to one issued in November in Washington State by its attorney general. Each of …

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Hospitals Get Bad News Re: TC Grandfather Expire

Pathology Trends / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: During negotiations to extend the payroll tax cut in February, Congressional negotiators agreed to end the technical component (TC) grandfather provision for more than 1,000 rural hospitals. Seeking to save $50 million annually, Congress said anatomic pathologists would no longer be able to bill Medicare for the TC services on surgical specimens. Pathologists …

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2011’s Top 10 Lab Stories Point to a Busy 2012

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Given the specific news stories that make up THE DARK REPORT’S list of the “Top Ten Lab Stories for 2011,” it might be said that 2011 was a rather quiet year overshadowed by anticipation of the coming reforms mandated by the Accountable Care Act of 2010. For the clinical lab testing industry, 2011 …

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Rite Aid Offers Free Tests to Preferred Customers

Clinical Laboratory Trends / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: National pharmacy chain Rite Aid now offers free clinical laboratory tests to members of its customer-rewards program once they reach certain spending levels. After the customer’s specimen is tested, the laboratory test results are sent directly to the customer’s local Rite Aid pharmacist. Next, the pharmacist will discuss the lab test results with …

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What Comes Next in Battle Over Discount Lab Prices?

Laboratory Billing / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Now that the settlement involving Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and the California Attorney General has been announced, attention turns to what comes next with the four remaining defendant lab companies in the whistle-blower lawsuit. There are several different scenarios and it may be that California regulators face tough challenges before they can succeed in …

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Key Legal, Compliance Issues for Labs Identified

Laboratory Compliance / By Joseph Burns

CEO SUMMARY: It’s a first in the lab industry. In recent weeks, THE DARK REPORT asked the nation’s leading attorneys in clinical lab and anatomic pathology law to identify the most important legal, compliance and managed care issues for 2011 and 2012. Using a consensus methodology, this survey produced a prioritized list of six key …

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2006’s Top Lab Stories Identify New Threats

The Dark Report / By Robert Michel

CEO SUMMARY: Presented here are THE DARK REPORT’S “Ten Biggest Lab Stories of 2006.” Compared to earlier years, 2006 was not transformative for the laboratory industry. But it was an eventful year, particularly influenced by Siemens’ decision to acquire DPC and Bayer Diagnostics, along with the decision by UnitedHealth Group to grant an exclusive national …

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