TAG:
laboratory tests
Good Information Drives Good Decisions
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS DEMONSTRATE that a long-standing business adage remains as true today as when many of us first learned it decades ago. I am referring to the pithy piece of management wisdom often written as: “You need good information to make good decisions.” It is a trait held in common by …
2013’s Top Ten Lab Stories Point to Tougher Times
CEO SUMMARY: For 2013, the big story was money—or, more accurately, less money for providers. This was not limited to clinical labs and pathology groups, but was equally true of hospitals and physicians. In THE DARK REPORT’S annual lookback at the year’s 10…
Study Reveals Medicare Already Pays Low Rates
CEO SUMMARY: Researchers studied a database containing laboratory test prices paid in 2012 on behalf of 56 million Americans covered by private health plans and determined that, for most tests, and in most regions, Medicare already pays less than private health insurers for clinical labor…
Tennessee BCBS Cuts Lab Fees to 52% of Medicare
CEO SUMMARY: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee has notified physicians that, starting January 1, it will reduce what it pays for lab testing to 52% of Medicare fees. Officials with the state medical association have been unable to get definitive answers to questions about what tests wou…
ACLA, CAP Comment on Final 2014 Medicare Rules
CEO SUMMARY: On November 27, as the nation prepared for the Thanksgiving holiday, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the long-awaited final rules for 2014. Early analysis of the 1,300 pages of rules CMS released indicates that the agency moderated one…
Medicare Overstepped With Proposed Rules
FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW, officials at the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have signaled their unhappiness with the status quo in how coverage guidelines and prices must be established for clinical laboratory testing and anatomic pathology services. These pag…
Broward Health’s Lab Pursues Multiple Ways to Cut Lab Costs
CEO SUMMARY: Tasked with cutting $2 million from their lab’s annual operating budget, the lab team at Broward Health System instituted changes that included a lab test formulary and ordering algorithms. In collaboration with physicians, these changes reduced the use of outmoded tests wh…
California Pharmacists to Order Tests, but Will Laboratories Get Paid?
A NEW LAW IN CALIFORNIA allows pharmacists to order laboratory tests for monitoring patients’ medications. But it is unclear if labs will be paid for such tests under the law. California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill, SB 493, into law on October 1. It raises the status of pharmacists as hea…
Walgreens To Go National with Lab Tests in Stores
CEO SUMMARY: A disruptive innovation is one that shakes up an entire market or industry. By adding clinical lab testing to its health services offerings in more than 8,100 stores nationwide, Walgreens could disrupt the status quo in the clinical lab industry. Walgreens says its lab partne…
Theranos Won’t Discuss Disruptive Lab Technology
CEO SUMMARY: In a partnership with Walgreens pharmacies, Theranos Inc. announced that it will run clinical lab tests on “micro-samples” and collect these blood samples without venipuncture. Even as Theranos touts the patient-friendly benefits of its proprietary diagnostic technology, …
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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