By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXIV, No. 9 – June 26, 2017 issue
Theranos is back in the news again. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the troubled lab company is close to negotiating a settlement with Walgreens after being sued for $140 million in a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the national pharmacy chain. According to the journal, the settlement amount may be as
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 8 – June 5, 2017 issue
AN INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN who practiced in Yonkers, N.Y., is the latest physician to admit to taking bribes in connection with a laboratory test referral scheme that Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS), of Parsippany, N.J., operated for years.
The physician, Ricky J. Sayegh, MD, 44, of Scarsdale, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 8 – June 5, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: By now, there is widespread recognition among pathologists and clinical lab managers that the era of fee-for-service reimbursement is giving way to new forms of payment that reward value. First-mover lab leaders are in the earliest stages of developing enhanced lab testing services that contribute to improved patient outcomes while reducing costs. These
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 8 – June 5, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Last month’s lawsuit filed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi against a small rural hospital in Mississippi and multiple defendant lab companies in Texas is the latest attempt by health insurers to rein the widespread fraud that threatens to overwhelm the pain management and toxicology sectors of healthcare. Increasingly, the nation’s community
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXIV, No. 8 – June 5, 2017 issue
TODAY, THE LAB INDUSTRY FACES A CONTRADICTION when setting prices for individual lab tests. At one extreme, a certain sector of labs seeking to win exclusive managed care contracts sets high-volume routine test prices at or below the fully-loaded cost to perform those tests. At another extreme, laboratory companies with specialty molecular and genetic tests
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 7 – May 15, 2017 issue
There is a new development in one of the whistleblower lawsuits filed against several lab companies that offered specialty cardiology tests. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Quest Diagnostics involving its acquisition of Berkeley HeartLab, which was acquired by Quest in 2011. The DOJ said that Quest agreed to pay
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 7 – May 15, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: As one response to the FDA’s efforts to regulate laboratory-developed tests, some large labs and IVD manufacturers organized the Diagnostic Test Working Group. It has engaged with congressional officials to draft legislation that would establish a risk-based review of both laboratory-developed tests and in vitro diagnostic test kits, changing current regulatory protocols for
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 7 – May 15, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Among the major themes to emerge from the more than 60 sessions and 100 speakers at this year’s Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management were the accelerating pace of integrated care, the growth of precision medicine, and use of big data to guide physicians. Other issues centered on labs’ need to
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 6 – April 24, 2017 issue
Theranos, Inc., is again in the news. On April 17, the company disclosed a global settlement with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to resolve “all outstanding legal and regulatory proceedings between CMS and Theranos.” The company said, pursuant to terms of the settlement, CMS withdrew revocation of the company’s CLIA operating
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 6 – April 24, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Is it a new sign of the times? After decades of reluctance to sell their lab outreach businesses or enter into inpatient lab management agreements with commercial lab companies, a surprising number of hospitals and health systems are taking that step. Since the first of the year, sales of several major hospital lab
