TAG:
laboratory tests
Medicare’s Latest Attack on Lab Test Prices
MANY OF YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEW MEDICARE RULE by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that it would use to initiate a review of the prices it pays for 1,250 clinical laboratory tests under the Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). However…
CMS Proposes Yet More Cuts for 2014, Beyond
CEO SUMMARY: In July, CMS proposed rules to cut payments under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System, the Physician Fee Schedule, and the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. Under each program, the proposed payment cuts could have a significant and negative effect on the amount…
Attorneys for CAP Say CMS Fee Proposals Illegal
CEO SUMMARY: In its comments about a proposal to change the way CMS pays for clinical laboratory and pathology services, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) said that CMS is using faulty assumptions. CAP further commented that the CMS proposal to cap physician fee schedule payments…
CMS’ Proposed Lab Rules May Not Fly with Congress
CEO SUMMARY: Many clinical lab administrators have noticed the new activism at the federal Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) when it comes to control of establishing prices for clinical laboratory tests. In this exclusive interview, two long-time advocates for the National Inde…
Genesis Outreach Lab Acquired by LabCorp
CEO SUMMARY: Sources say that Genesis Clinical Laboratory of Berwyn, Illinois, owned by McNeal Hospital, is being sold to Laboratory Corporation of America. Neither party has publicly acknowledged completion of the sale. It is the latest example of consolidation within the clinical lab in…
Four Docs Plead Guilty In N.J. Lab Bribery Case
CEO SUMMARY: As of July 24, four New Jersey doctors had pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges. Each of the doctors accepted bribes in exchange for referring patient lab testing to Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services (BLS) of Parsippany, New Jersey. This landmark criminal prosecution in…
BlueCard Policy Causing Clinical Labs to Go Unpaid
CEO SUMMARY: Clinical laboratories doing lab test work for Blue Cross Blue Shield patients using their BlueCard benefit are no longer being paid by the Blues plans. Some Blues plans are sending those reimbursement checks directly to their members with instructions for the patient to use t…
OIG Tells CMS It Could Save $910 Million on Lab Test Costs
IT IS ONE MORE POWERFUL SIGN of the changing times. Last week, the Office of the Inspector (OIG) publicly released a study it had done of the prices paid for lab testing and how the Medicare program could use this information to reduce the cost of Part B clinical laboratory testing. It was The W…
Financial Hurricane Hits Entire Lab Testing Industry
FOR ABOUT 18 MONTHS NOW, THE ENTIRE LABORATORY TESTING INDUSTRY has been hit by an ongoing series of painful cuts to lab test fees and announcements of more restrictive coverage guidelines. Even today, there is additional news of rock bottom prices to share with you. In this issue, you’ll read abo…
Executive War College Sessions Center Upon Three Trends
CEO SUMMARY: There was an interesting blend of anxiety and optimism as a record crowd gathered in New Orleans last week for the 18th annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management. The anxiety was rooted in the shrinking prices paid by payers for lab testing services….
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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