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COVID-19 Molecular Testing
Molecular diagnostics is a collection of techniques used to analyze biological markers in the genome and proteome—the individual’s genetic code and how their cells express their genes as proteins—by applying molecular biology to medical testing. The technique is used to diagnose and monitor disease, detect risk, and decide which therapies will work best for individual patients.
As the primary clinical manifestation of COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, PCR tests are generally used to test samples obtained from the upper or lower respiratory tract. Appropriate upper respiratory sample types include a nasopharyngeal swab or a throat swab.
Currently there are two types of diagnostic tests— molecular tests, such as RT-PCR tests, that detect the virus’s genetic material, and antigen tests that detect specific proteins from the virus.
Medicare to Cut Payment for COVID Tests Starting Jan. 1
CEO SUMMARY: Starting Jan. 1, CMS will lower the COVID-19 test payment to $75 when labs with “high-throughput systems” report a COVID-19 test result after 48 hours. This is the federal government working at cross purposes, since other federal agencies are diverting COVID-19 testin…
New Clinical Lab Opens on March 23 and Prospers
CEO SUMMARY: Timing is everything when launching a new clinical laboratory business. The March 23 grand opening of Incyte Pathology’s clinical lab came in the midst of the collapse of daily routine specimen referrals. But once the lab was operational, Incyte had the capability, the …
Community Lab Ceases after 37 Years of Operation
CEO SUMMARY: In Pennsylvania, one of the state’s largest independent clinical laboratories, HNL Lab Medicine in Allentown, acquired a lab competitor last month, Northeastern Laboratory Medicine in Hazelton. The deal is a good strategic move for both labs because HNL will continue to…
$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…
DOJ Delivers $6B Lab Fraud Crackdown
This is an excerpt of a 1,028-word article in the October 5, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: In this latest lab fraud crackdown, Department of Justice cases involving clinical labs or molecular te…
DOJ $6B Fraud Crackdown Charges 345 Defendants
CEO SUMMARY: Department of Justice cases involving clinical labs or molecular test claims may represent about half (or about $3 billion) of the total fraudulent claims. Those claims stem from genetic testing, urine-drug and other tests, and healthcare services, the DOJ said. In additi…
High-Complexity Mobile Labs for COVID-19 Testing
CEO SUMMARY: Demand for high-complexity mobile coronavirus testing facilities is high, according to the CEO of a start-up company building 25 clinical labs in mobile trailers that can do hundreds of tests per eight-hour day. Employers, schools, event organizers, and other entities all…
Understanding COVID-19’s Changes to Lab Industry
CEO SUMMARY: With the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic about to enter its eighth month in the United States, it remains difficult to predict whether the pandemic will strengthen with the fall influenza season or steadily diminish. What is clear to most pathologists and clinical laboratory executiv…
New York Firm to Build CLIA Labs in Shipping Containers
CEO SUMMARY: In many respects, the COVID-19 pandemic is like a gold rush for entrepreneurs. Federal and state governments, colleges, employers, school districts, and other entities need COVID-19 tests and tens of billions of dollars are available to pay for such tests. This modern gol…
September 14, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Alphabet, Inc., the parent of Google, is expanding its COVID-19 testing activities. In recent months, Verily Life Sciences—a division of Alphabet devoted to research into life sciences—organized a clinical laboratory for COVID-19 testing. It obtained CLIA certification and is licensed wit…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXI, No. 6 – April 29, 2024
Laboratory managers will want to note that The Dark Report itself was targeted by the fraudsters who hit Change Health in a cyberattack. Also, one lab has some innovative methods of combatting the chronic staffing shortage, including hiring college graduates and students.
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