TAG:
laboratory tests
Lab Copay on the Table, But for Now, It’s Australia
CEO SUMMARY: Patient copayment is the idea that always appeals to government health officials who want to control healthcare costs. In Australia, Parliament has yet to vote on a bill that would, starting in July 2015, institute a patient copayment of $7.00 Australian for …
Speakers in New Orleans Offer Important Insights
CEO SUMMARY: In coming years, there will be multiple challenges and opportunities for the nation’s clinical laboratories and pathology groups. That was one common theme heard from the 90 speakers and panelists at the 19th annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Manageme…
UCLA, Centre to Open Lab in China to Offer High Quality Testing
CEO SUMMARY: To fill the unmet demand for quality clinical laboratory testing in China, a partnership between pathologists at UCLA and Centre Testing International Corp. of Shenzen have built and will operate a lab facility in Shanghai. The new lab will open by late September and…
Lab Serving Large MD Group Manages Quality and Costs
CEO SUMMARY: For decades, pathologists have pointed out that their expertise in laboratory medicine can be tapped by physicians to improve utilization of lab tests, contribute to improved patient outcomes, and reduce the overall cost of care. Exactly that is now happening at Atrius Heal…
April 28, 2014 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
In recent years, a series of decisions involving molecular diagnostics tests made by Medicare officials and the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) have caused much disruption in the clinical laboratory industry. In response to these developments, on April 16, the California Clinical L…
Congress’ New SGR Law Has Mixed News for Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Once again, the lab industry faces a mixed bag following passage of a new law by Congress last week. Besides the one-year fix for the SGR, H.R. 4302 also has language that may defer adjustments to Medicare Part B lab test fees until 2017 and creates a new procedure for Medica…
New Federal Law Changes How CMS Sets Lab Prices
CEO SUMMARY: CMS wanted more power to cut the prices it pays for clinical lab testing. A significant part of the lab industry wanted more transparency and consistency in how CMS established coverage guidelines and prices for new lab tests. Congress appears to have attempted to craft a law…
Federal Judge Rules Against Idaho Hospital in Antitrust Case
LAST MONTH, A FEDERAL JUDGE RULED that St. Luke’s Health System of Boise, Idaho, violated antitrust laws when, in 2012, it acquired Saltzer Medical Group, the largest independent medical practice in the state. In ruling against the merger of a hospital and physici…
Physician Group ACO Targets High-Volume Tests for Savings
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW an accountable care organization views cost control. Atrius Health sought to control excess costs by focusing on high-priced items. It started with inappropriate hospitalizations and imaging studies and moved on to laboratory testing. Atrius Health is…
Medicare OPPS Rule Has Pitfalls for Labs
CEO SUMMARY: On January 1, the new Medicare rule for requiring bundled or packaged reimbursement for certain services covered by the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) became effective. Just four days earlier (on December 27), Medicare officials issued instructions on h…
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