By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 5 – April 8, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Many anatomic pathology groups are watching their revenue decline and margins shrink on the same or greater case volume. These trends make it imperative to have a deeper understanding of the operational and financial variables that contribute to stability in the group’s finances and pathologist compensation. One expert on the financial complexity of anatomic
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 5 – April 8, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: By its name alone, the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) Policy Manual implies that it will be accurate and consistent with other coding initiatives. But nine groups representing various clinical laboratories say NCCI guidelines that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued in December and implemented on Jan. 1 are inconsistent
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: When Ascension Wisconsin wanted one pathology group to serve its needs statewide, North Shore Pathologists responded to the request for proposal by focusing on how pathologists can improve patient care through a patient-centered model. Other pathology groups responded with proposals that emphasized the financial aspects of the relationship. Focusing on patient care won
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVI No. 3 – February 25, 2019 issue
BIGGER PATHOLOGY GROUPS AND METROWIDE OR STATEWIDE COVERAGE will be major characteristics in the anatomic pathology profession as healthcare continues to transform in new ways. That is why the reasons for the substantial growth in case volume and revenue at North Shore Pathologists (NSP) in Milwaukee should be studied by pathology groups everywhere.
It was a practice
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXVI No. 2 – February 4, 2019 issue
By any measure, it is tougher today for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups to generate the revenue needed to deliver state-of-the-art diagnostic testing services while remaining financially viable. Four recent trends prove the point.
First, every year, the Medicare program and private health insurers are cutting the prices they pay for medical laboratory tests.
Second, most
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: This will be one of the most challenging years facing the clinical lab industry since the early 1990s. The CMS scheme to collect private payer lab test prices and use that data to set Medicare clinical laboratory test prices is proving to be an indiscriminate tool that is poised to undermine the financial integrity of many labs,
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: This will be one of the most challenging years facing the clinical lab industry since the early 1990s, when closed panel HMOs were the disruptive force that generated deep cuts in lab test prices. However, unlike HMOs of that era, the CMS scheme to collect private payer lab test prices and use that
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Sonic Healthcare, Ltd., announced that it would pay $540 million—a multiple of 9.2 times EBITDA—to acquire Aurora Diagnostics, the anatomic pathology company based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Sonic will gain 32 pathology practice sites and add 220 pathologists to its network of regional clinical and pathology laboratories. The transaction marks the end
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: This year’s list of the Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2018 is dominated by new directives from Medicare and private health insurers, as well as significant decisions by federal courts. Collectively, these developments create new compliance risks for all clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. What is more notable about these top
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXV No. 18 – December 24, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: This year’s list of the Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2018 is dominated by new directives from Medicare and private health insurers, as well as significant decisions by federal courts. Collectively, these developments create new compliance risks for all clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. What is more notable about these top
