TAG:
test utilization
Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp Report Second Quarter Earnings
JUST ONE DAY APART, the nation’s two largest laboratory testing companies reported second quarter and half-year earnings for 2011. Each financial report opened a window into marketplace developments for the first six months of this year. First to release its earnings report was Quest Diagn…
Controlling Test Utilization By Physician Use of CPOE
CEO SUMMARY: Systems for computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support can contribute to better utilization of laboratory tests while achieving improvements in patient outcomes. At Decatur Memorial Hospital, use of CPOE helped physicians slash the volume…
Systems Approach For Pre-Authorization Of Genetic Tests
CEO Summary: Pre-authorization of expensive genetic and molecular tests is a threat to local clinical laboratories and pathology groups if payers exclude them from provider networks in favor of labs which bid the lowest prices. But one major healthcare corporation believes there …
Tough Financial Times Ahead for Hospital Labs
THIS YEAR’S MASSIVE HEALTH REFORM LEGISLATION has a ticking financial time bomb for hospital laboratories. Starting October 1, Medicare Part A hospital fees will be reduced by 0.4% for the federal fiscal year 2011. This is expected to reduce Medicare Part A spending by $440 million in 2011 compared…
Pre-authorization Coming For Pricey Molecular Tests
CEO SUMMARY: In response to the steep ramp-up in the utilization of genetic and molecular testing, the nation’s largest health insurers are preparing to institute new guidelines for coverage and reimbursement. These will include pre-authorization by physicians, a more effective genetic …
Lab Testing Hits Two Home Runs For Patients
MANY OF US POINT OUT THAT LABORATORY MEDICINE is an undervalued and under-utilized asset within the American healthcare system. Lab testing is generally a minimal cost relative to the total episode of care, yet lab testing provides essential knowledge to help clinicians make a quick, accurate diagnos…
Vitamin D Test Volumes Doubled in Past Year
CEO SUMMARY: Across the nation, labs report a near doubling in the volume of vitamin D tests they are performing. This is a success for laboratory medicine and an appropriate use of diagnostics tests as physicians strive for early detection and early intervention of vitamin D deficiency. …
Hospital Lab Evolves Into A Consultative Resource
CEO SUMMARY: Every laboratory recognizes it has the knowledge and expertise to become more of a consultative resource to its referring physicians. At 248-bed J.T. Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, New York, the laboratory director took advantage of administration’s interest in improving …
Anticipate Access/Service Decline for S.D. Patients
CEO SUMMARY: In its primary push to use the Medicare Laboratory Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project as a tool to drive down the price Medicare pays for Part B laboratory testing services, CMS is giving secondary attention to patients’ needs. In particular, CMS seems to place littl…
Labs in U.S. and Australia Learn from Each Other
CEO SUMMARY: Australia just conducted its first summit meeting on laboratory management and a near sell-out crowd showed up to learn the best and latest. For the Americans in the audience, there were several surprises. First, Australia has a highly-competitive laboratory sector, comparabl…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
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