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TriCore Lab Adds Value with Consults, Better TAT
CEO SUMMARY: Motivated by the goal of delivering more value to clinicians and client hospitals, the lab team at TriCore Reference Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is proactively introducing new services. One such initiative is to travel to hospitals to participate in rounds and co…
May 28, 2013 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News””
Globalization of laboratory medicine continues to move forward. Two recent examples illustrate this trend. Earlier this month, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced that it had entered into an agreement with the Citizens Hospital of Hyderabad, …
Aetna To Lower Lab Test Prices, New Fees Are Effective on July 1
IN RECENT MONTHS, labs are reporting the receipt of letters from Aetna, Inc., announcing that it will pay dramatically less than Medicare prices for many key lab tests. Aetna said that these lower prices will take effect on July 1, 2013. Three examples illustrate the deep fee cuts t…
Why One Molecular Diagnostics Company Closed Its Doors
CEO SUMMARY: When executives closed the doors of Pathwork Diagnostics last month, the simple explanation was that reimbursement for its proprietary molecular diagnostic test was inadequate. Indeed, that was part of the story. But other factors played significant roles in impeding…
Labs Should Prepare for Larger Patient Deductibles
CEO SUMMARY: Employers are taking active steps to control the year-over-year increases in the cost of health benefits. One strategy gaining favor is to move employees away from traditional health plans and enroll them in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). This is a trend with huge fina…
Standard Bar Code Labels Can Reduce Lab Errors
CEO SUMMARY: Standardization of bar code labels is a concept whose time has come. After implementing CLSI standard AUTO12-A, first-mover clinical labs report fewer specimen identification errors, a reduction of costs associated with specimen handling errors, and a boost in lab productivit…
Executive War College Sessions Center Upon Three Trends
CEO SUMMARY: There was an interesting blend of anxiety and optimism as a record crowd gathered in New Orleans last week for the 18th annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management. The anxiety was rooted in the shrinking prices paid by payers for lab testing services….
How CMS ‘Mismanaged’ Pricing of Molecular Tests
CEO SUMMARY: CMS and its contractors had ample opportunity to implement a new reimbursement system but failed to act in a timely manner, stated an expert familiar with the problem. The result is that laboratories, particularly those that have one or two proprietary molecular tests, are be…
Anticipating Washington’s Next Blows to Lab Testing
CEO SUMMARY: With the advent of 2013, almost every lab was responding to some type of price cut. Clinical labs are dealing with the sequential, multi-year cuts to the Medicare Part B Lab Test Price Schedule. Anatomic pathology labs are still adjusting to the expiration of the TC Grandfath…
Cerner Acquires Lab Automation Company
BY NOW, MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD THE NEWS that Cerner Corporation has acquired Labotix, Inc., the laboratory automation company based in Peterborough, Ontario. That transaction was announced last Monday, March 18. I consider this deal notable because it is an example …
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
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