This is an excerpt from a 2,400-word article in the October 1, 2018 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group, and non-members may access one premium article per month.
CEO SUMMARY: Many lab professionals are disappointed at the news that there will
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Outside pathologists are reviewing the pathology reports of almost 20,000 patients of an Arkansas Veterans Administration hospital following termination of a Chief of Pathology who was believed to have handled cases while impaired. Currently, the review identified 256 cases where the pathology report missed the diagnoses and the potential for severe consequences existed.
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
HOW OFTEN IS A DEFUNCT LAB COMPANY IN THE NEWS? That was the odd development last week when it was announced that a U.S. District Court had entered a $1.4 million civil judgement against Calloway Laboratories, Inc., a toxicology lab company formerly based in Woburn, Mass., for business practices during the period May 2014 through
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
IN RECENT DECADES, probably no sector of the U.S. healthcare system has seen the level of fraud and abuse that seems to pervade the clinical laboratory industry. The common perception is that illegal inducements between lab companies and referring physicians are rampant and federal prosecutors have failed to bring enough violators to justice to effectively
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In a ruling issued Sept. 12, a U.S. District Court judge decided that two common clinical laboratory business practices are illegal inducements that can lead to charges of ling false claims. The practices occur when labs pay physicians to package and mail patients’ specimens and when labs waive copays and deductibles for patients.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Many lab professionals were disappointed at the news that a federal judge dismissed the American Clinical Laboratory Association’s arguments in its lawsuit against the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In an interview, the ACLA’s lead lawyer on the case discussed the key issues and explained ACLA’s claims about how HHS
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: While acknowledging that the American Clinical Laboratory Association raises important questions in its case against the federal Department of Health and Human Services, a district court judge ruled that the court cannot resolve the dispute and dismissed the ACLA’s claims for lack of “subject matter jurisdiction.” While not dismissing it outright, the judge
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXV No. 14 – October 1, 2018 issue
Every pathologist and clinical lab administrator should pay attention to two federal court decisions made recently in two different legal cases. One decision is bad news for the entire clinical lab industry. The other is bad news for lab companies that push compliance with federal anti-kickback laws.
The most important court decision came in the American
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 13 – September 10, 2018 issue
News that a laboratory’s courier truck was high-jacked in broad daylight with patient specimens aboard puts the spotlight on whether the security practices labs use to protect drivers, vehicles, and the patient specimens they may be carrying are adequate. On Aug. 3 in Durham, N.C., a driver of a courier vehicle owned by Laboratory Corporation of
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 13 – September 10, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: When commercial and government payers use auditors to review a lab’s claims, they often use statistical sampling and extrapolation to limit the time needed to review claims. But proper sampling and extrapolation require following the rigorous scientific methods to produce a representative sample of claims to draw conclusions they can apply to the
