By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: New national lab contracts that LabCorp and Quest announced in May could disrupt the lab testing market in ways regional labs can exploit, experts said. Health plans entered these new contracts after realizing that the exclusive network contracts do not work, one lab consultant explained, adding that large national labs will compete with
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
RECENTLY TWO OF THE NATION’S LARGEST HEALTH INSURERS abandoned a managed care contracting strategy that they adopted 11 years ago. Back in 2007, UnitedHealthcare and Aetna each were willing to grant exclusive national provider status to a single lab company in exchange for deeply-discounted lab best prices. (See TDRs, Oct. 16, 2006, Feb. 19, 2007, and
By maryv
CEO SUMMARY: As the debate grows more heated, supporters of hospital outpatient department (HOPD) billing schemes have ramped up their defense of the practice. The president of the National Association of Rural Hospitals tells THE DARK REPORT that rural hospitals are permitted to bill for hospital lab outreach program services under Medicare’s 70/30 shell rule.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 10 – July 9, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In recent years, many rural hospitals have entered into agreements to expand their laboratory outreach businesses. In an interview, the president of the National Association of Rural Hospitals said rural hospitals often bill for lab outreach services under Medicare’s 70/30 shell rule. This rule, as modified by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
By maryv
This is an excerpt from a 2,000-word article in the May 29, 2018 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is to all readers as long as the article limit has not been reached, and always available to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: Seeking the higher lab-test payment rates that insurers
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 8 – May 29, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Seeking the higher lab-test payment rates that insurers pay hospital labs, some lab testing companies are buying rural, financially-struggling hospitals in what may be the latest twist on the pass-through billing strategy that certain lab testing firms have found to be lucrative in recent years. Currently, two lab companies are seeking to buy
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
WE’VE JUST FINISHED A FASCINATING WEEK IN NEW ORLEANS, at the 23rd annual Executive War College. More than 820 lab leaders were present to hear 104 interesting speakers in 65 unique sessions. Collectively, this group represented as much as $20 billion in annual clinical lab and pathology revenue.
These statistics are important for a strategic planning
This is an excerpt from a 2,920-word article in the March 26, 2018, issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: Here’s the first look for the lab industry at an important
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 5 – March 26, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: A disruptive force that involves precision medicine, pharmaceutical companies, and venture capital investors is poised to reshape the clinical laboratory industry. Genetic knowledge makes it possible to match cancer drugs to specific mutations. Pharma companies and professional investors recognize that control of diagnostic technologies and companion diagnostic tests enable them to gain better access
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV, No. 1 – January 2, 2018 issue
WE ARE NOW IN THE NEW YEAR and the 2018 Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) is a reality. The dramatic price cuts that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has enacted is the single most disruptive financial event the clinical laboratory industry has faced in the past two decades.
As we have reported,
