TAG:
clinical laboratory industry
COVID-19 or Not, Lab Market Enters ‘Twilight Zone’
Our healthcare system is in a most remarkable state. Even as all providers—including clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups—continue to devote considerable resources to meeting the urgent need for SARS-CoV-2 testing, health insurers and regulators continue to issue new requirements g…
Palmetto GBA Tells Consultant to Take Down Test Price Data
CEO SUMMARY: Lawyers for Medicare contractor Palmetto GBA sent a cease and desist letter in September to a respected lab consultant, telling him to delete from his health policy blog a document containing Medicare genetic test price and coding data. In the letter, Quinn was directed…
New Twist: HHS Exerts Authority Over FDA on LDTs
CEO SUMMARY: In a recent memo, the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ general counsel rendered a legal opinion that FDA would need to issue new regulations to regulate LDTs. By stepping into this years-long dispute and saying that FDA cannot regulate LDTs through gui…
$481 Mil Federal COVID Contract Awarded to Young IVD Company
IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST THE PANDEMIC, federal officials are boosting the fortunes of some little-known or emerging in vitro diagnostics (IVD) companies. One example is the recent award of a $481 million COVID-19 test contract to Cue Health Inc., of San Diego. Earlie…
Labs, AP Groups Confused about UnitedHealthcare’s Test Registry
CONFUSION CONTINUES among clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups about how they should comply with UnitedHealthcare’s new Laboratory Test Registry Program. The program goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, but labs and pathology groups must register all tests and testing procedure…
Medicare Pays 500% More for Molecular Test Claims
CEO SUMMARY: Rapid growth in what Medicare spent for molecular tests in recent years may lead federal investigators to increase scrutiny of fraudulent billing for clinical laboratory and molecular pathology tests, according to a lab consultant who has tracked such spending in recent y…
UnitedHealth Sets More Billing Rules for Labs, Pathologists
SUBMITTING CLINICAL LABORATORY AND PATHOLOGY TEST CLAIMS to UnitedHealthcare (UHC) will be more complex after the nation’s largest health insurer announced three significant changes in its claims processing procedures. The three changes involve: • Requests for refunds from anatomic pa…
October 5, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Guess who will be partnering with the US Department of Veterans Affairs to support its wider use of digital pathology? It’s Google! Last month, it was announced that the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the Department of Defense (DoD) had selected Google …
Will HHS Ruling on COVID-19 LDTs Be Good or Bad for Lab Reimbursement?
This is an excerpt of a 1,028-word article in the September 14, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. WHILE SOME LABS CELEBRATE THE PERCEIVED FLEXIBILITY that comes from not having to get an …
Coming Soon: a Different Clinical Lab Industry
“Keep your eye on the ball” is an idiom that originated with baseball. The idea is that every player on the field should, at all times, know where the ball is so that they can be ready to do their job when the ball comes their way. This is excellent advice for clinical lab administrators and…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXVII, Number 16 – November 16, 2020
UNWELCOME CHANGES to how labs do business are forcing labs to cope with high demand for COVID-19 testing while dealing with government and private payers interfering with normal operating procedures. Medicare has new requirements and payment rates for COVID-19 tests. Also reported here are UnitedHealthcare’s new Laboratory Test Registry Protocol, and California’s new COVID-19 testing laboratory that is diverting lab instruments, supplies, and test kits away from hospital and independent labs in the state.
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