TAG:
laboratory testing
Root Cause Analysis Used To Find Source of Errors
CEO SUMMARY: It is a reminder that today’s sophisticated laboratory test systems still have the potential to malfunction in unexpected ways. This spring, following installation and validation of a new chemistry instrument, one Canadian hospital laboratory quickly recognized that a serie…
CLIA PT Enforcement Ensnares Top Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Think it can’t happen to you? Think again. Following self-disclosure of inadvertent referrals of proficiency testing (PT) specimens, the laboratory at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) was visited by officials from the Ohio Department of Health and the Ce…
Existing CLIA Language Drives PT Enforcement
CEO SUMMARY: Revocation of a lab’s CLIA license as penalty for inadvertent errors in handling proficiency tests (PT) is not a new problem. As explained here, most clinical laboratories have appropriate protocols for handling PT samples. But, when errors occur, the Centers for Medicare &…
Congress May Respond to Tough CLIA PT Penalties
CEO SUMMARY: For years, severe penalties in cases where a laboratory has inadvertently erred in handling proficiency testing (PT) specimens have been a point of contention between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the clinical laboratory profession. Two bills prop…
New BlueCard Policies Affect Lab Test Claims
CEO SUMMARY: This new policy from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) becomes effective on October 14, 2012. No longer can a local lab provide service to a member under the BlueCard program and be paid by the local plan in the region where the service was provided….
Lab Site Visits in NZ Show Impact of Lab Contracting
CEO SUMMARY: In some ways, the story of the New Zealand’s health system’s 15-year strategy to reduce the cost of clinical laboratory testing is a cautionary tale for public laboratory companies in the United States. During THE DARK REPORT’S site visit to several private labs in New …
Employers, Payers Are Challenging ‘High’ Test Prices
ONE NATIONAL TREND IN CLINICAL LABORATORY TESTING that has not yet gotten wide play outside the pages of THE DARK REPORT is the emergence of what might be termed a “war” by national and regional health insurers against the “higher” prices often charged by hospital laboratories. This is a key…
Indiana Clinical Lab Taps Data to Improve Service to Doctors
CEO SUMMARY: Business intelligence is on the verge of becoming the next “big thing” in clinical laboratory management. Lab teams are using real-time data dashboards to quickly identify problems and take proactive steps to raise service levels to clients. South Bend Medical Foundation …
New Lab Company Intends to Buy Outreach Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Based in Brentwood, Tennessee, Regional Diagnostic Laboratories (RDX) says it wants to purchase the laboratory outreach programs of nonprofit community hospitals. RDX is a partnership with Warburg Pincus, a New York investment company. It is a credible buyer and has $250 mill…
aLabs Now Manages Labs for Major Health Systems
CEO SUMMARY: Established with a unique business plan unseen to date in the lab testing industry, aLabs has already entered into laboratory management services contracts with major health systems in Milwaukee and San Diego. This is an impressive start for a newly-formed company that has no…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 7 – May 12, 2025
Economic, Tech changes drive lab concerns, The Dark Report provides insights from the Executive War College speakers about how clinical labs can use business strategies and tactics to handle the new tariffs, future regulations, and artificial intelligence (AI). Also, this issue provides guidance on how labs and pathologists should prepare for payer audits.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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