By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 5 – April 8, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Before Medicare’s lab test price cuts went into effect last year, Health Network Laboratories began discussions with private health insurers and nursing home clients about the possibility of renegotiating their contracts. In these discussions, HNL promoted the value it delivers to health insurers in terms of fast turnaround times, lab-test utilization management, and
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 5 – April 8, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: By its name alone, the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) Policy Manual implies that it will be accurate and consistent with other coding initiatives. But nine groups representing various clinical laboratories say NCCI guidelines that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued in December and implemented on Jan. 1 are inconsistent
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. 4 – March 18, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In a recent statement, COLA, an organization that accredits clinical labs, expressed strong concern about how a report from the Government Accountability Office did not address how the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) affects patients’ access to testing, especially in rural areas. COLA said its surveys of providers across the
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
This is an excerpt from a 1,500-word article in the Feb. 25, 2019 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: In their respective earnings reports for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2018, executives at both Laboratory Corporation of America and Quest
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: At Northwell Health, the clinical laboratory team has been busy building and opening two new, large laboratory facilities. First to open was the lab in Little Neck, Queens, a shared lab with NYC Health and Hospitals. This lab will handle 36 million tests annually. The second lab to open is Northwell’s new core
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Some of blockchain’s proponents view its potential uses in health information technology to combat cybersecurity threats and improve the secure exchange of health information through electronic medical record systems. But for clinical laboratories, blockchain could be the key to improve payment processes and help eliminate errors in payment and allowed amounts. In theory,
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
This story was updated from the original on March 27, 2019, and includes corrected information in three places.
CEO SUMMARY: In their respective earnings reports for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2018, executives at both Laboratory Corporation of America and Quest Diagnostics told financial analysts that the Medicare fee cuts of 2017 and
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 2 – February 4, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: It’s been a common strategy among managed care payers to seek the lowest prices for clinical laboratory testing when negotiating contracts with labs. However, lower prices may become less important over time as the health system moves away from fee-for-service payment toward value-based reimbursement. Now evidence is accumulating that at least some large
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 2 – February 4, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: It is ironic that, after the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) enacted the deepest price cuts to the Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule in more than 50 years, a U.S. Senator now asks CMS why it will pay billions more for lab testing. The question from Iowa Senator Chuck
