TAG:
UnitedHealthcare
How Certain Labs Can Crack into Health Plans’ Closed Networks
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our column, Virchow, is written by anonymous insiders working within the managed…
Outreach Nets Hospital Lab $2.5M in One Year
CEO SUMMARY: Tucson Medical Center had sold its outreach business to a commercial laboratory two decades earlier, but wanted to bring those services back to its in-house lab. Early work with the finance de…
Private Health Insurers Are Aware of Problems with CPT Code 81408
EDITOR’S NO…
UHC Will Delay Enforcement of Z-codes for Genetic Test Claims
IN THE LATEST BACKPEDAL ON ITS NEW POLICY, UNITEDHEALTHCARE (UHC) appears to have dropped its requirement for genetic testing laboratories to use Z-codes for claims under commercial health plans—for now. Earlie…
Smaller Labs Must Verify Z-code Arrangement with Lab Companies
EDITOR’S NO…
With Z-codes, Will Other Payers Follow UnitedHealthcare’s Lead?
EDITOR’S NOT…
HCCI Reports Higher Prices for Hospital Outreach Tests
CEO SUMMARY: It’s another shot across the bows to hospital and health systems that use inpatient test prices when billing health insurers for outpatient/outreach lab tests. In its report, the Health Care Cost Institute documents how these hospital l…
Technical Assessment Challenges for Z-Code Applications
CEO SUMMARY: Effective on Aug. 1, UnitedHealthcare will require Z-code submissions for many genetic tests. During a recent webinar, experts tackled a topic that may prove troublesome for labs seeking Z-codes: technical assessments. Key advice is to provide specific data about clin…
UnitedHealthcare’s Z-code Policy Starts on Aug. 1
CEO SUMMARY: UnitedHealthcare’s (UHC) response to the ever-growing number of unique genetic tests and the continuing growth in the volume of those claims is a new policy. Effective Aug. 1, UHC will require a Z-code with genetic test claims. This req…
Stressful Weeks Ahead for Labs Thanks to Z-codes
We are not alone in recognizing that UnitedHealthcare’s…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXIII, No. 10 – August 2026
In the August 2026 briefing, The Dark Report explains the relevance behind CMS potentially changing how it pays for “software as a medical service”. Other topics include a look into how health system executives view clinical labs, possible CLIA updates, and a 30/60/90-day approach to reducing reliance on traveling medical lab techs.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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