By Pamela Scherer McLeod, from the Volume XXVII No. 1 – January 6, 2020 issue
WHEN AN ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY GROUP CONSIDERS IMPLEMENTING digital pathology and whole-slide imaging (WSI) for primary diagnosis, it must identify and understand a range of challenges and opportunities.
“Every pathology group should start by considering how it will use the related technologies of a digital pathology (DP) system and whole-slide imaging,” said Liron Pantanowitz, MD, Vice Chair
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVII No. 1 – January 6, 2020 issue
TYPICALLY, PEOPLE CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW YEAR and a new decade with optimism. That should be just as true for clinical lab managers and pathologists. After all, medical laboratory testing is fundamental to how physicians diagnose disease, select the most appropriate therapies, and monitor the progress of their patients.
Yet events of recent years have
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXVI No. 17 – December 16, 2019 issue
This is an excerpt of a 3,163-word article in the Dec. 16, 2019 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: There was plenty of bad news in 2019 for clinical labs and pathology groups. Yet lurking inside this news are clear opportunities –
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXVI No. 17 – December 16, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: There are both surprises and several valuable insights to be harvested from THE DARK REPORT’s “Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2019.” Financially, 2019 proved to be a tough year for both clinical labs and anatomic pathology groups in the United States. One reason is because Medicare and private payers continue to use
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVI No. 17 – December 16, 2019 issue
Is it a coincidence that a number of uninsured consumers filed separate lawsuits in federal courts against Laboratory Corporation of America and Quest Diagnostics—alleging, in both cases, that they were overcharged for clinical laboratory tests—just months before the federal government published final rules requiring hospitals and other providers to publish their prices?
Last month, the federal Centers
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 16 – November 25, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory benefit management companies that offer a range of services to health insurers are gaining influence over clinical lab testing in important ways. On behalf of health insurers, LBMs will select labs for a payer’s network, then manage that network. They also manage claims and lab-test utilization, often reviewing medical necessity. A primary
This is an excerpt of a 1,484-word article in the Nov. 25, 2019 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: It’s an unreported trend tracked only by THE DARK REPORT, but which is essential reading for clinical labs and pathology groups that must
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVI No. 16 – November 25, 2019 issue
IMPLEMENTATION OF ICD-10 DIAGNOSIS CODES in the United States happened on Oct. 1, 2015. At that time, a national laboratory association predicted that use of ICD-10 codes would cause Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to pay labs less often and with lower reimbursement.
The Dark Report agreed with this prediction and published the warnings of the American Clinical
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXVI No. 15 – November 4, 2019 issue
This is an excerpt of a 2,027-word article in the Nov. 4, 2019 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: Under a new federal rule in effect this month, all healthcare providers—including clinical laboratories and pathology groups—will need to scour the records of
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 15 – November 4, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: For pathologists and clinical, molecular, and genetic testing labs, appropriate reuses of lab data can provide a new source of revenue. Labs that serve as preferred providers of diagnostic testing data can help health systems, ordering physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and other organizations when they reuse lab test data to support evidence-based care and
