Pathology Errors a Factor in 3 Deaths at VA Hospital

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 w…

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CMS Report, News Stories Describe Pathology Issues

By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXV No. 6 – April 16, 2018 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: In response to information the pathology lab staff provided to the hospital’s risk manager last fall, and following a federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection in February, the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is taking corrective action to fix serious…

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Wake Forest Baptist Hospital Reviewing Path Lab Deficiencies

By R. Lewis Dark | From the Volume XXV No. 6 – April 16, 2018 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: In response to information the staff provided to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital’s risk manager last fall, and following a federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection in February, CMS describes deficiencies found as “an immediate jeopardy to the health and …

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Pathologist’s Error and Hospital’s Cover-up Lead to CMS Investigation

By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 13 – September 18, 2017 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: In the latest chapter of an explosive case at the University of Kansas Medical Center that includes claims of a cancer misdiagnosis, an unnecessary surgery, and a cover-up that involves the former chair of pathology, the patient has sued for fraud, negligence, and civil consp…

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California Pathology Labs to Report Data to State’s Cancer Registry

By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 11 – August 7, 2017 Issue

HEALTHCARE BIG DATA IS ADVANCING in California and all pathologists in the Golden State will be required to submit data to the state’s cancer registry beginning in 2019. California’s new law to support the state’s cancer registry is the latest example of an effort to ensure the timely collecti…

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Medicare Special Stain LCD May Hinder Pathology Workflow

By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXI No.16 – November 24, 2014 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: Under a proposed rule for Medicare region J-11, a pathologist will no longer be able to use “reflex templates or pre-orders for special stains and/or IHC stains prior to review of the routine H&E.” While the proposed LCD is designed to target a relatively small number…

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May 19, 2014 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXI No. 7 – May 19, 2014 Issue

How about a hospital that doesn’t have a medical laboratory but issues lab test reports to patients? This unusual development happened in India recently. The Free Press Journal of Mumbai, India, reported earlier this month that government health officials had conducted a surprise inspectio…

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Ottawa Pathology Lab Cuts Turnaround Time By More Than 50%

By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XX No.14 – October 21, 2013 Issue

CEO Summary: Pathologists at Ottawa Hospital not only must handle a large volume of specimens regularly, but are experiencing a 14% per year growth in the number of specimens. Last year, when the average turnaround time for a case was nine days, the pathology department embarked …

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August 15, 2011 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVIII No. 11 – August 15, 2011 Issue

Last Friday, the acquisition of Southern Diagnostic Laboratories, Inc., of Birmingham, Alabama, was announced by Solstas Lab Partners of Greensboro, North Carolina. Steve Boyd, who is the Founder and CEO of Southern Diagnostics, will become a Senior Vice President at…

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Why Canada Has Growing Shortage of Pathologists

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXVIII No. 11 – August 15, 2011 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: In Canada, it is known that the supply of pathologists and laboratory physicians has diminished since 1998. Further, a federal program that measures patient wait times for certain surgical and imaging procedures does not measure how long patients wait for ana…

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