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Pathology group
A pathology group is an organization of clinical pathologists working on the diagnosis of disease based on laboratory analysis of bodily fluids such as blood and urine, as well as tissues, using the tools of chemistry, clinical microbiology, hematology and molecular pathology. Clinical pathologists work in close collaboration with medical technologists, hospital administrations, and referring physicians.
The business model of a pathology group has traditionally been as a private group practice, including solo practitioner, medical group partnership, professional corporation (PC), limited liability company (LLC), and similar professional business organizations. It is common for pathology groups to have contracts with one or more hospitals to provide anatomic pathology professional services and clinical pathology professional services.
Pathology itself is a significant component of the causal study of disease and a major field in modern medicine and diagnosis. The term pathology may be used broadly to refer to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of bioscience research fields and medical practices, or more narrowly to describe work within the contemporary medical field of “general pathology,” which includes a number of distinct but inter-related medical specialties which diagnose disease mostly through the analysis of tissue, cell, and body fluid samples.
Pathologists in hospital labs and pathology groups practice as consultant physicians, developing and applying knowledge of tissue and laboratory analyses to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of individual patients. As scientists, they use the tools of laboratory science in clinical studies, disease models, and other experimental systems, to advance the understanding and treatment of disease.
Clinical pathologists in a pathology group administer a number of visual and microscopic tests and an especially large variety of tests of the biophysical properties of tissue samples involving automated analyzers and cultures. Sometimes the general term “laboratory medicine specialist” is used to refer to those working in clinical pathology, including medical doctors, PhDs and doctors of pharmacology.
Immunopathology, the study of an organism’s immune response to infection, is sometimes considered to fall within the domain of clinical pathology.
Becoming a pathologist entails one of the lengthiest education and training tracks of all physicians. Requirements include four years of undergraduate study, plus four years of medical school, plus a minimum of four to five years of post-graduate training in pathology residency.
Proposed Medicare 2021 PFS Cuts Pathology Fees by 9%
IF THE PROPOSED MEDICARE 2012 PHYSICIAN FEE SCHEDULE (PFS) RULE—published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 4—takes effect as currently written, pathology professional fees will be cut by 9%, effective Jan. 1, 2021. This was not…
August 24, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Currently at least 15 veterinary laboratories in the United States perform COVID-19 tests. This fact was confirmed by Adm. Brett Giroir, MD, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), during an interview last month conducted by CNN. Officials at HHS confi…
UHC Ready to Implement New Lab Test Registry
CEO SUMMARY: UnitedHealthcare announced that its new Test-Registry Protocol will become effective on Jan. 1, 2021, creating a major billing hurdle for labs and pathology groups. By that date, a lab must register each type of test before it can submit claims for these tests to the nati…
UHC Issues Details about How Labs Register Tests
CEO SUMMARY: As of January 1, UnitedHealthcare will require all clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups to register every type of test before labs can bill for those tests. Not only is the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting normal activity, but the administrative burden UHC is i…
FDA Says 8 of 11 Tests Fail in Serology Test Review
This is an excerpt of a 1,970-word article in the June 22, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: After introducing some 200 serological assays onto the market in March and April with little or no review,…
Where Is the FDA When Labs Need It Most?
LET’S START WITH AN ESSENTIAL FACT: in the management of almost every outbreak of a novel infectious disease, clinical laboratory tests will be essential in diagnosis of the disease, in monitoring the progress of an infected patient, and in determining if, once cured, a patient has immunity to tha…
COVID-19 Serology Test Review: FDA Says 8 of 11 Tests Fail
CEO SUMMARY: After introducing some 200 serological assays onto the market in March and April with little or no review, as of this writing the FDA website lists only 77 serology tests. Of that number, 11 assays have been evaluated independently and eight of those 11 have been pulled from…
To Stay Afloat, Dallas AP Group Cut Staff, Payroll
CEO SUMMARY: As early cases of COVID-19 spread in some states, pathologists at the 50-member ProPath group in Dallas prepared for a widespread outbreak by preserving cash and working with bankers and other advisors to apply for federal stimulus funding. Executives also fur…
Companies Saw Big Drop in Lab Revenue from Mid-March
This is an excerpt of a 2,083-word article in the April 20, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: In response to the coronavirus outbreak, patients stopped seeing their doctors for routine c…
From Mid-March, Labs Saw Big Drop in Revenue
CEO SUMMARY: In response to the coronavirus outbreak, patients stopped seeing their doctors for routine care and hospitals ceased doing elective services. With fewer test referrals, clinical labs and pathology groups were hit with a substantial decline in revenue. One of t…
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