TAG:
clinical laboratory test
OIG Says Medicare Spending On Testing Increased in 2019
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 18 – December 28, 2020 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: Newly-released data indicates that Medicare officials are falling far short of their goal to decrease the total amount of money spent annually on Part B clinical laboratory tests. That is one finding by the federal Office of the Inspector General in its report of Medica…
One Genetic Test CPT Code Earns ‘Fraudomatic’ Title
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 17 – December 7, 2020 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: Several genetic testing companies have noticed that some of the nation’s Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) pay about $2,000 for test claims billed with CPT code 81408. From 2018 through and 2019, the number of 81408 claims rose dramatically at just two of thes…
Memphis Path Lab Pivots to COVID, Pooled Testing
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 17 – December 7, 2020 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: When routine testing volume declined sharply last winter and spring, one of the nation’s largest anatomic pathology groups added testing for COVID-19 and boosted revenue significantly. Since then, the laboratory has become the first in the nation to gain an Emergency …
Pooled COVID Testing a Success for New York Hospital Lab
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 16 – November 16, 2020 Issue
This is an excerpt of a 1,552-word article in the November 16, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: Pooled COVID testing helps the clinical lab staff at the hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., do …
COVID-19 or Not, Lab Market Enters ‘Twilight Zone’
By R. Lewis Dark | From the Volume XXVII, No. 16 – November 16, 2020 Issue
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…
UnitedHealthcare Delays Its New Test Registry Protocol Until April 1
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 16 – November 16, 2020 Issue
CLINICAL LABORATORIES AND ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY GROUPS working to register their tests with UnitedHealthcare’s (UHC) new Laboratory Test Registry Protocol just got a 90-day reprieve. UHC has delayed the start date to April 1, 2021. …
NY Hospital Lab Succeeds with Pooled COVID-19 Testing
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 16 – November 16, 2020 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: Pooled testing helps the clinical lab staff at the hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., do more COVID-19 tests when supplies might otherwise run short. Lab managers estimate this method has saved 5,000 test cartridges since May. Pooled testing also helps the physician st…
Palmetto GBA Tells Consultant to Take Down Test Price Data
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 16 – November 16, 2020 Issue
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…
Medicare COVID Test Coding May Become a ‘Logistical Nightmare’
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 16 – November 16, 2020 Issue
STARTING JAN. 1, 2021, clinical laboratories performing COVID-19 tests using high-throughput systems for Medicare patients must comply with a complex new coding rule when submitting claims for these tests. The federal Centers for Med…
Medicare COVID Test Payments to Be Cut Starting Jan. 1
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVII, No. 15 – October 26, 2020 Issue
This is an excerpt of a 1,9842-word article in the October 26, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: Starting Jan. 1, CMS will lower the Medicare COVID test payment to $75 when labs with “high-throughp…
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Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
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