By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 12 – September 3, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Last year, Veterans Administration officials received an anonymous complaint about delays in laboratory specimen processing and results at the Memphis VA Medical Center may have harmed patients and led to a patient death. Following an investigation, the VA’s Office of Inspector General issued a report last month. It determined that a staff shortage
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 11 – August 12, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Deep cuts in what Anthem pays pathologists for the professional component for certain AP services are having a harmful effect on the long-standing relationships that dermatologists have with dermatopathologists, some physicians say. By disrupting these relationships, Anthem is harming patient care, they add. Since late last year, in a growing number of states,
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXVI No. 8 – June 10, 2019 issue
This is a synopsis of two articles in the June 10, 2019 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full articles are available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: The number of professionals working in the pathology field in the United States declined by 17.53% from 2007 to 2017 – leaving the U.S.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 8 – June 10, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: The number of pathologists working in the United States declined by 17.53% from 2007 to 2017, according to recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. When adjusted for the U.S. population, the researchers said the workforce of pathologists is smaller than that of other countries and those other countries
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: This year’s list of the Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2018 is dominated by new directives from Medicare and private health insurers, as well as significant decisions by federal courts. Collectively, these developments create new compliance risks for all clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. What is more notable about these top
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
PROBLEMS WITH CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING IN IRELAND continue to make headlines in the Irish newspapers and roil the Irish health system. Caught up in this story are two billion-dollar lab companies that performed cervical cancer screening under contract to the Irish Health Service.
THE DARK REPORT provided its first coverage of these developments in its previous
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: For medical directors and pathologists interested in improving their labs’ compliance with CLIA regulations, a report from federal and state inspectors of an inspection of the pathology lab at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center offers insights into what issues caught the inspectors’ attention. During their visit in February, the government lab inspectors
By maryv
CEO SUMMARY: In response to information the staff provided to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital’s risk manager last fall, and following a federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection in February, CMS describes deficiencies found as “an immediate jeopardy to the health and safety of patients” at the 885-bed hospital. THE DARK REPORT’s analysis shows
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 6 – April 16, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In response to information the pathology lab staff provided to the hospital’s risk manager last fall, and following a federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection in February, the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is taking corrective action to fix serious deficiencies in its anatomic pathology laboratory. In reports issued in February
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 6 – April 16, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Discovery of multiple diagnostic errors occurring in an anatomic pathology department triggered a complaint investigation and a 54-page report from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The report shows that Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is reviewing more than 9,000 pathology cases to identify incorrect cancer diagnoses. Last month, the medical
