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Quest Sells OralDNA, HemoCue To Clear Its Decks for 2013

THIS WEEK, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will issue its fourth quarter and full year 2012 financial report. In anticipation of this, the nation’s largest lab company has been cleaning out its closets, so to speak. With its new CEO finishing out his first eight months of service, …

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Finding Lab Growth Opportunities Amid the Gloom

IN MANY WAYS, THE TRADITIONAL BUSINESS MODELS for laboratory testing services are proving deficient in the face of a swiftly-evolving healthcare system. I suspect that none of us fully understand how many laboratory organizations are already under extreme financial stress. We intuitively understand …

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2012’s Top Ten Lab Stories Predict More Challenges

CEO SUMMARY: It’s been a year with more lows than highs, when viewed through the lens of THE DARK REPORT’S “Top Ten Lab Stories of 2012.” The end of the TC grandfather clause, new policies for prostate biopsy billing, and a dramatic 52% cut to 88305- TC fees were widely reported. …

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Price Cuts, Long Delays in Payment Are Expected

CEO SUMMARY: In addition to a steep cut in the 88305 CPT code, anatomic pathology laboratories can expect cuts in the payment from Medicare for molecular and prostate biopsy testing. Two national experts in lab billing and reimbursement warn labs to expect confusion in how both public and…

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New Business Helps Reduce Pathology Specimen ID Errors

CEO SUMMARY: Prevention of diagnostic testing errors is getting more attention by both physicians and pathology labs because patients are less tolerant of potentially life-changing errors. Strand Diagnostics’ Know Error system is designed to reduce or eliminate errors involving tissue s…

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Of 88305-TC and Other Bad News for Pathology Labs

BY NOW, VIRTUALLY ALL PATHOLOGISTS ARE AWARE of the announced cut in Medicare reimbursement for the technical component (TC) of CPT 88305. Effective on January 1, 2012, Medicare will pay 52% less for this CPT code. From the prior level of $69.78, the new reimbursement will be $33.70. As news of this…

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OURLab Founder Lays Out New Business Strategy

CEO SUMMARY: For OURLabs of Nashville, Tennessee, it was the host of changes in the lab testing marketplace that motivated it to go looking for a partner. Its recently-announced merger with OPKO Health, Inc., of Miami, Florida, creates opportunities for OURLab pathologists to do more in t…

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Labs Have Questions about Prostate Biopsy Policy

CEO SUMMARY: How will pathology laboratories respond to the publication of revised policies in how laboratories should file Medicare Part B claims for prostate biopsies? Not only will there be a sharp drop in the reimbursement paid for a 12-core prostate biopsy, but labs may be at increas…

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Lawyer Advises on Risk Of Prostate Biopsy Audits

CEO SUMMARY: For labs currently processing prostate biopsy cases with five or more cores and for those pathologists interpreting those cases, there is a lack of clarity about new Medicare policies. As one example, risk of an audit is significant because of recent guidance issued by one Me…

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Prostate Biopsy Claims Affected by Policy Change

CEO SUMMARY: Quietly, with no fanfare and little advance public notice, the Medicare program is taking steps to change reimbursement policy for prostate biopsies. On August 7, 2012, Palmetto GBA adopted the new policy published on January 1, 2012, by the National Correct …

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