By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 17 – December 16, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Health Network Laboratories cut costs and shortened lab test turnaround time by converting paper requisitions to digital data. It did so by scanning paper requisitions and having a vendor do the required data entry. This helped the lab reduce errors in its patient data. Using this paper-to-digital system allowed the lab to adopt
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 4 – March 18, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Hospital and health system lab managers say some vendors of electronic health record systems for independent physicians are aggressively raising the fees they charge labs. Labs serving outreach physicians now pay more in two ways, they say. First, they pay the price the vendor charges to implement an LIS-to-EHR interface. Second, they pay
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Inform Diagnostics, formerly Miraca Life Sciences, settled the federal qui tam case while denying wrongdoing. The $63.5 million settlement will by paid by the former owner, Miraca Holdings, a Japanese company. The federal Department of Justice alleged that the company—then known as Miraca Life Sciences—violated the False Claims Act by engaging in what
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
Clinical labs and physicians can soon say goodbye to “meaningful use.” Federal officials are proposing a significant change to the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive program for certified EHRs that has been in existence since 2011. In a press release issued last spring, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule.
By maryv, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
This is an excerpt from a 2,920-word article in the May 7, 2018 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: In an insightful report, THE DARK REPORT shows how one lab
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Over the 24 months of a first-generation round of laboratory test utilization management projects, the Cleveland Clinic laboratories prevented more than 30,000 duplicate or inappropriate test orders, saving almost $2.7 million. Now implementing a second-generation of labtest utilization projects, the lab’s seven-year effort has prevented 160,072 tests and saved more than $5 million.
By Jon Stone, from the Volume XXIV, No. 16 – November 20, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Market clearance of the first-ever CLIA-waived analyzer for complete blood count and three-part differential tests could cut time-to-answer from days to mere minutes for one of the top 20 tests by volume performed at core laboratories. Developer Sysmex America, Inc., foresees its analyzer as a complement to central labs. Basic diagnostics would be
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 16 – November 20, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: With each passing year, the primary role of hospital and health system labs evolves in a different direction than that of independent lab companies. This trend is a response to the creation of integrated delivery networks paid on value and how they are scored on their ability to keep patients out of hospitals
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 15 – October 30, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In more than 40 presentations by 55 speakers, two big themes dominated the 11th annual Lab Quality Confab in New Orleans last week. One theme is the urgent need to cut clinical laboratory costs. The second theme is the need for both clinical labs and anatomic pathology groups to deliver more value to
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 12 – August 28, 2017 issue
AFTER SEVERAL LABS SPOKE about the difficulties in working with the new Anthem/AIM Specialty Heath prior-authorization program for genetic tests, THE DARK REPORT sent questions to Anthem. Responses from Anthem/AIM were lengthy and have been edited to fit the available space:
Q: Is it true that labs cannot assist physicians in ordering tests through the Anthem/AIM program?
A:
