Tag: compliance laws

Is New Cycle of Fraud Plaguing Lab Industry?

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXII No. 12 - August 24, 2015 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Taken collectively, the growing number of federal investigations of clinical lab companies and health insurer lawsuits against lab companies alleging fraudulent business practices signals a disturbing new trend for the lab industry. Although these allegations are leveled at just a handful of lab companies, the amount of money these labs took out of the system exceeds a billion dollars. Some experts expect payers will enact tough requirements to stop such abuses.

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Will Federal Prosecutors Pursue HDL Lab Execs and Physicians?

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXII NO. 6 - April 20, 2015 issue

WHERE WAS MUCH TO BE LEARNED when, on April 9, federal prosecutors announced settlements of multiple whistleblower lawsuits against Health Diagnostics Laboratory, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia, and Singulex Inc. of Alameda, California.

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Are Prosecutors Afraid of Big and Little Lab Firms?

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XVIII No. 14 - October 17, 2011 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Settlements in the big whistleblower suits involving major lab companies typically generate national headlines. But seldom do the views of the “quiet majority” of lab owners and lab executives get much attention. These are the majority of lab professionals working hard to follow compliance laws and requirements. They want to meet both the

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Letter to Editor on EMR Donations, Deeply-Discounted Client Prices

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XVII No. 7 - May 10, 2010 issue

Dear Editor:

Because THE DARK REPORT is willing to tackle tough issues regarding the business end of the pathology profession, I am writing to call attention to a serious situation. What follows is presented as mostly factual and minimally perceptive. While I have no fear of transparency regarding our lab organization, I prefer anonymity to ensure

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Path Group Responds to FBI Visits in Stokes Case

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XIV No. 12 - August 27, 2007 issue

CEO SUMMARY: As the FBI launched its investigation of fraudulent billing by Michigan dermatologist Robert W. Stokes, D.O., two years ago, staff at several pathology labs found themselves “up close and personal” with federal healthcare fraud prosecutors. One pathology lab, based on what it learned, decided to revamp its compliance program. It ceased deep discounts

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Technical/Professional Billing Has Risks for Labs, Doctors

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XIII No. 7 - May 22, 2006 issue

IT’S A HOT TOPIC ACROSS THE ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY PROFESSION. Increasing numbers of physician groups are hiring laboratories to perform the technical component of an anatomic pathology case and engaging pathologists to diagnose the cases. This phenomenon is often called TC/PC, to represent how the technical component (TC) is being performed and billed independently of the

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Why Is There Crime In the Lab Industry?

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XII No. 7 - May 9, 2005 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Since 1991, there have been criminal indictments or criminal convictions of four former CEOs of public lab companies. Given the limited number of public lab companies active in the market at any moment in time, this is a remarkably high rate of criminal behavior. Moreover, the “bad behavior” of such lab firms puts

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Bi-Annual Look at Trends Reshaping Clinical Labs

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XII No. 2 - January 24, 2005 issue

CEO SUMMARY: Among other things, we declare the end to the heyday of the independent commercial lab company which offers a broad test menu to all types of office-based physicians. In its place springs forth the specialty or niche testing laboratory. Small and focused on a specific number of reference and esoteric tests, the number

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LabCorp’s Smith Speaks On New Pathology Trend

By Robert Michel, from the Volume XI No. 11 - August 9, 2004 issue

CEO SUMMARY: During the past decade, Laboratory Corporation of America’s Brad Smith faced the spear point of evolving Medicare/Medicaid compliance initiatives which changed so many laboratory industry business practices. Smith believes that business models for in-house anatomic pathology labs now being offered to specialist physician groups fail to meet important Medicare compliance criteria.

EFFORTS BY SPECIALIST

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IMPATH Delisted by Nasdaq, Under Investigation by SEC

By Robert Michel, from the Volume X No. 12 - September 8, 2003 issue

EFFECTIVE AUGUST 27, Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. delisted the stock of IMPATH, Inc. Less than a week earlier, IMPATH had disclosed that it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

IMPATH can truly be described as a company under siege. It is short of cash, under regulatory investigation, and defending itself from at

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Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018

DID CONGRESS JUST PASS A LAW that makes innocent labs guilty of criminal acts? At the last minute, Congress added all clinical laboratories to a far-reaching anti-kickback provision in the newly-enacted Support for Patients and Communities Act -- a provision that makes common practices such as paying commissions to sales staff or placing phlebotomists in labs could be illegal. Worse: The experts are baffled by the language of the new law. Notes one of these experts in this issue, "Someone in the clinical lab industry may have to get prosecuted before we get some clarity, unless the Secretary of HHS issues clarifying regulations."

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Tag: compliance laws

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