By maryv
CEO SUMMARY: Publication of the draft CMS Physician Fee Schedule on July 12 brought unwelcome news for the clinical lab industry, at least as it pertains to that perennial question: Should hospital lab outreach data be included in a PAMA market study? The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services must conduct a new market
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In the Province of Québec, an ambitious project is under-way to consolidate the clinical laboratory testing of 123 laboratories into 11 centralized lab clusters. It is one of the largest lab consolidation projects nowhappening in the world. Among the goals of this project is to improve qualityand efficiency while incurring no additional costs.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 11 – July 30, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Publication of the draft Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on July 12 brought unwelcome news for the clinical lab industry, at least as it pertains to whether hospital lab outreach data should be included in the PAMA market study that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services must conduct. In the draft rule,
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 10 – July 9, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: As health networks and hospitals consider outsourcing their lab outreach programs, the lab team at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (D-H) offers lessons about the value of retaining outreach. D-H is now in the eighth year of a sustained expansion of its laboratory outreach business. It has combined its lab outreach strategy with a proven
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 9 – June 18, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Despite the challenges hospital and health system laboratory outreach programs face today, there are many ways they can remain viable, according to an outreach expert from Mayo Medical Laboratories. By taking specific steps to increase volume and the value they provide, lab outreach programs can keep their costs down while bringing in more
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 8 – May 29, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Reporting in The Wall Street Journal shows that some physicians in Arizona were concerned about the harm from erroneous test results from Theranos Inc. But those physicians who expressed concern may have been only a small set of the number of physicians who were worried about patient harm. After reviewing the concerns about
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 8 – May 29, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: After hospital labs and pathology groups implement Lean and process improvement methods to harvest the easiest cost savings and boost quality, they often take the next step of introducing real-time analytics systems. Access to detailed data about workflows, productivity, and turnaround times then drives continuous improvement projects. At St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical
By maryv, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
This is an excerpt from a 2,920-word article in the May 7, 2018 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: In an insightful report, THE DARK REPORT shows how one lab
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Over the 24 months of a first-generation round of laboratory test utilization management projects, the Cleveland Clinic laboratories prevented more than 30,000 duplicate or inappropriate test orders, saving almost $2.7 million. Now implementing a second-generation of labtest utilization projects, the lab’s seven-year effort has prevented 160,072 tests and saved more than $5 million.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 6 – April 16, 2018 issue
IN PREPARED REMARKS at a clinical lab industry meeting last month, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, outlined steps the federal Food and Drug Administration would take to reduce the regulatory burden on labs that develop next-generation gene sequencing and lab-developed tests. He also explained some of the ways that the agency could be more flexible
