By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 13 – September 10, 2018 issue
AMONG THE ROUGHLY 6,500 HOSPITALS OPERATING in the United States, only about 125 (2.5%) have closed in the past five years. But in the coming years, some 450 hospitals are at risk of closing. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said 600 other hospitals have weak finances that could lead them to close.
In the report, Morgan Stanley,
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 3 – February 12, 2018 issue
“Today, patients want to get diagnosis and treatment faster with fewer visits to the doctor’s office. They want speedier and more comprehensive delivery of clinical services, be it laboratory tests, imaging, or other procedures.”
—Ralph Taylor, President, Sysmex America, Inc.
CEO Summary: To bring testing closer to patients, clinical laboratories will need to offer sophisticated point-of-care systems
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 4 – March 13, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Announced last month, the new laboratory joint-venture partnership with Sonic Healthcare’s Sunrise Clinical Laboratories will allow WCHN to compete with other health systems and prepare to respond to health insurers’ requests that hospital systems offer lower rates in value-based payment models. WCHN has already seen payers shift to low-cost providers. For this reason,
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
This is an excerpt from a 3,200-word article in the December 19 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: THE DARK REPORT’S annual list of the Lab Industry’s Top 10 stories for
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Within THE DARK REPORT’S list of the Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2016 is one story of disruption that might have been one story of disruption about to happen. The disintegration of Theranos during 2016 is the big story about a self-proclaimed disruptor of the lab industry that finds itself struggling just
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII No. 12 – September 6, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Probably the most-watched reference pricing program in healthcare to date was initiated by CalPERS. It focused on the variability in the prices of knee and hip replacement surgeries. Just as Safeway experienced a drop in clinical lab test prices of 32% in its reference pricing program, CalPERs paid 30% less for these surgeries
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII, No. 6 - May 2, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Last year, Kailos Genetics stopped collecting third-party payment, dropped its prices sharply, and started marketing its genetic-screening tests directly to consumers and physicians. At the time, 100% of its revenue came from third-party payers. Today, it gets 100% of its revenue from consumers. After eliminating third-party payment, revenue dropped precipitously, but is now
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII No. 4 – March 21, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Following the sale of his hospital lab outreach business to a national lab company, former CEO James Fantus told THE DARK REPORT about the significant trends he saw unfolding in the Northeast. They include: a shrinking number of physician customers for labs; a rising number of patients with high-deductible health plans, resulting in
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXII NO. 15 - October 26, 2015 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In Arizona, Theranos supported a new state law this year that allows patients to order lab tests without a doctor’s order. Since the law took effect, that law and the ultra-low prices offered by Theranos are drawing away some cash-paying customers from one lab company that has operated in Phoenix for 26 years.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXII No. 12 - August 24, 2015 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Seeing the changes overtaking pathology practices, Brazos Valley Pathology decided to sell two of its group practices to Aurora Diagnostics. Last month’s transaction was not designed to fix financial problems nor was it because of retiring pathologists. Rather, it was done proactively to ensure that BVP’s 11 pathologists had access to the resources of a larger pathology organization so that they could expand or add technology as needed in the future, while practicing independently.
