TAG:
surgical pathology
Federal Judge Lets Trial Proceed in Case against Quest
CEO SUMMARY: Four California labs have charged that Quest Diagnostics engaged in predatory pricing in a case filed originally in November 2012. After the lawsuit was amended last summer and fall, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III heard various motions in the case. On February 6 he…
Ottawa Pathology Lab Cuts Turnaround Time By More Than 50%
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 …
Labs Push to Cut Costs As Budgets, Prices Shrink
CEO SUMMARY: Cost-cutting is now the prime directive at progressive labs because nearly every laboratory organization in the United States is under sustained financial pressure. This is due to shrinking budgets for hospital labs and more aggressive price-cutting by private payers. Even Ob…
Aetna To Lower Lab Test Prices, New Fees Are Effective on July 1
IN RECENT MONTHS, labs are reporting the receipt of letters from Aetna, Inc., announcing that it will pay dramatically less than Medicare prices for many key lab tests. Aetna said that these lower prices will take effect on July 1, 2013. Three examples illustrate the deep fee cuts t…
Preserving Competition Is Goal of California Lawsuit
CEO SUMMARY: Once again, the use of deeply-discounted lab test pricing to win exclusive managed care contracts is involved in a court case. However, this latest private lawsuit is different from earlier cases because it seeks to preserve competition in the lab testing and the managed care…
2012’s Top Ten Lab Stories Predict More Challenges
CEO SUMMARY: It’s been a year with more lows than highs, when viewed through the lens of THE DARK REPORT’S “Top Ten Lab Stories of 2012.” The end of the TC grandfather clause, new policies for prostate biopsy billing, and a dramatic 52% cut to 88305- TC fees were widely reported. …
Price Cuts, Long Delays in Payment Are Expected
CEO SUMMARY: In addition to a steep cut in the 88305 CPT code, anatomic pathology laboratories can expect cuts in the payment from Medicare for molecular and prostate biopsy testing. Two national experts in lab billing and reimbursement warn labs to expect confusion in how both public and…
First-Mover Labs Reveal Success with Lean & QMS
CEO SUMMARY: There is good news for those clinical labs and pathology groups currently operating robust Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement programs. The Institute of Medicine’s new report calls for all healthcare providers to rapidly transform themselves into ‘continuously learn…
Louisiana Pathologists ‘Moonlight’ as Consultants
CEO SUMMARY: Few independent pathology groups have developed robust laboratory consulting businesses. But adopting that strategy has brought important benefits to Delta Pathology Group, LLC, of Shreveport, Louisiana. Not only has providing lab consulting services to cash-strapped hospital…
Lawyer Advises on Risk Of Prostate Biopsy Audits
CEO SUMMARY: For labs currently processing prostate biopsy cases with five or more cores and for those pathologists interpreting those cases, there is a lack of clarity about new Medicare policies. As one example, risk of an audit is significant because of recent guidance issued by one Me…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXI, No. 6 – April 29, 2024
Laboratory managers will want to note that The Dark Report itself was targeted by the fraudsters who hit Change Health in a cyberattack. Also, one lab has some innovative methods of combatting the chronic staffing shortage, including hiring college graduates and students.
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