By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 2 – February 4, 2019 issue
WITH EACH NEW RULING about coverage for a proprietary diagnostic assay, Medicare officials send a message to the entire clinical laboratory industry that any lab company with a proprietary test needs to submit adequate clinical evidence that demonstrates two positive aspects of the test.
First, that the assay accurately measures the biomarkers that it says it
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
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: This will be one of the most challenging years facing the clinical lab industry since the early 1990s. The CMS scheme to collect private payer lab test prices and use that data to set Medicare clinical laboratory test prices is proving to be an indiscriminate tool that is poised to undermine the financial integrity of many labs,
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
It may be timely to ask a provocative question that touches everyone in the profession of laboratory medicine. Is there a future for community laboratories and hospital lab outreach programs in the United States, given the different forces acting upon the clinical laboratory industry today?
In this issue, our editorial team describes the multiple disruptive consequences
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
Each time a new year approaches, it is natural to look ahead and think about what the next 12 months will bring. My bet is that certain sectors of the clinical laboratory industry are soon to experience substantial disruption.
This disruption will come in two forms. First, federal regulators will be tougher on labs that violate
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018 issue
IN RECENT DAYS, RUMORS HAVE SURFACED that UnitedHealthcare has begun to terminate the contracts it holds with a number of regional and non-national clinical laboratories.
This news surfaced just as The Dark Report went to press. Given its importance to the clinical laboratory industry, we wanted to alert lab executives and pathologists to this development as
CEO SUMMARY: At the last minute, Congress added all clinical laboratories to a far-reaching provision in the newly-enacted Support for Patients and Communities Act. Unlike the Anti-Kickback Statute, this provision applies to all payers, both government and private, and offers no safe harbors. Lab experts say this new law could turn relatively innocuous and heretofore
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: At the last minute, Congress added all clinical laboratories to a far-reaching anti-kickback provision in the newly-enacted Support for Patients and Communities Act. This provision applies to all payers, both government and private. Lab experts say this new law could have a negative effect on patient care because it could make relatively innocuous
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 17 – December 3, 2018 issue
Traditionally, the new year is a time of optimism. People make resolutions such as exercising more and losing weight. Companies get to start the year with a fresh budget and the new opportunity to achieve their goals.
Unfortunately, events of the last 90 days of this year are not auspicious for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology
This is a summary of two articles in the Nov. 13, 2018 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete articles are available only to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: On Nov. 2, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its Physician Fee Schedule for 2019. CMS says it will expand
