By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
It may be timely to ask a provocative question that touches everyone in the profession of laboratory medicine. Is there a future for community laboratories and hospital lab outreach programs in the United States, given the different forces acting upon the clinical laboratory industry today?
In this issue, our editorial team describes the multiple disruptive consequences
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
Each time a new year approaches, it is natural to look ahead and think about what the next 12 months will bring. My bet is that certain sectors of the clinical laboratory industry are soon to experience substantial disruption.
This disruption will come in two forms. First, federal regulators will be tougher on labs that violate
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018 issue
IN RECENT DAYS, RUMORS HAVE SURFACED that UnitedHealthcare has begun to terminate the contracts it holds with a number of regional and non-national clinical laboratories.
This news surfaced just as The Dark Report went to press. Given its importance to the clinical laboratory industry, we wanted to alert lab executives and pathologists to this development as
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018 issue
Traditionally, the new year is a time of optimism. People make resolutions such as exercising more and losing weight. Companies get to start the year with a fresh budget and the new opportunity to achieve their goals.
Unfortunately, events of the last 90 days of this year are not auspicious for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology
This is a summary of two articles in the Nov. 13, 2018 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete articles are available only to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: On Nov. 2, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its Physician Fee Schedule for 2019. CMS says it will expand
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 16 – November 13, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: On Nov. 2, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its Physician Fee Schedule for 2019. It says it will expand the number of labs from which it collects data about the lab test prices paid by private health insurers. While some labs may welcome these changes, groups representing clinical laboratories
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 15 – October 22, 2018 issue
There is an important new development in the lawsuit in federal court that challenges how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is implementing the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). An appeal was filed by attorneys representing the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA).
On Friday, Oct. 19, the ACLA’s lead attorney on the case, Mark D.
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
IN RECENT DECADES, probably no sector of the U.S. healthcare system has seen the level of fraud and abuse that seems to pervade the clinical laboratory industry. The common perception is that illegal inducements between lab companies and referring physicians are rampant and federal prosecutors have failed to bring enough violators to justice to effectively
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
Every pathologist and clinical lab administrator should pay attention to two federal court decisions made recently in two different legal cases. One decision is bad news for the entire clinical lab industry. The other is bad news for lab companies that push compliance with federal anti-kickback laws.
The most important court decision came in the American
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 13 – September 10, 2018 issue
News that a laboratory’s courier truck was high-jacked in broad daylight with patient specimens aboard puts the spotlight on whether the security practices labs use to protect drivers, vehicles, and the patient specimens they may be carrying are adequate. On Aug. 3 in Durham, N.C., a driver of a courier vehicle owned by Laboratory Corporation of
