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Florida Doctors Refuse to Use UHC’s Lab Ordering System
CEO SUMMARY: It may not yet be open rebellion, but UnitedHealthcare faces strong opposition in Florida from physicians- and their medical societies-over the requirement that they obtain pre-notification and pre-authorization when ordering tests listed in UHC’s laboratory benefit …
Meaningful Use Stage 2 Is Problem for EHR Firms
CEO SUMMARY: EHR system vendors must now comply with the federal government’s Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements. Well-established EHR vendors will survive. But smaller EHR companies may struggle to provide the enhancements to their first generation EHR products that are require…
Public Comment Started on FDA LDT Regulations
CEO SUMMARY: On October 3, the FDA published draft guidelines to regulate laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). Pathologists and lab executives now have 120 days to comment on the guidelines. Several prominent national lab associations have expressed concerns about this additional bureaucrat…
Florida Ob-Gyns Call for UHC to End BeaconLBS
CEO SUMMARY: In Florida, obstetricians and gynecologists are complaining about the burdensome nature of the new lab test management system introduced by UnitedHealthcare. In addition to calling for an end to the program, some ob-gyns plan not to use the system, a process that could lead U…
UnitedHealth Answers Queries about Function of BeaconLBS
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED to UnitedHealthcare about the insurer’s laboratory benefit management program now coming into operation in Florida were provided by the company’s public communication officer. These answers are reproduced below: Q: Will BeaconLBS proces…
Partners Consolidates AP Using Common IT System
CEO SUMMARY: Partners HealthCare of Boston, Massachusetts, is creating a single informatics platform for CP and AP across all six of the hospitals that it operates. It will replace 19 different pathology systems currently used at six sites with just seven integrated pathology systems. As …
Meaningful Use Stage 2 to Challenge Labs in 2014
CEO SUMMARY: On December 6, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed to delay implementation of Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2 until 2016. One reason is that only about 80 vendors have certified their products to MU Stage 2. That is a small proportion of the almost 900 vendo…
Portland Lab Leverages Informatics for Growth
CEO SUMMARY: In Portland, Oregon, Legacy Laboratory Services, a division of Legacy Health, continues to post strong volume growth. One driver supporting this growth is the lab’s ability to implement connections between its laboratory information system (LIS) and the electronic …
Memorial Hermann’s Health Info Exchange Helps Lab Outreach
CEO SUMMARY: In Houston, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System has put together a health information exchange (HIE) to serve the Houston market. By design, this HIE not only gives physicians immediate access to a wide variety of patient data, but also supports the type of workflow required f…
Louisiana Pathologists ‘Moonlight’ as Consultants
CEO SUMMARY: Few independent pathology groups have developed robust laboratory consulting businesses. But adopting that strategy has brought important benefits to Delta Pathology Group, LLC, of Shreveport, Louisiana. Not only has providing lab consulting services to cash-strapped hospital…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
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