October 26, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News

In Houston, an 18-year-oldĀ high school studentĀ started a mobileĀ laboratory company toĀ provide COVID-19 tests toĀ home-bound patients. As theĀ youngest emergency medicalĀ technician in Texas, TaftĀ Foley, III, saw the need for thisĀ service. Texas Mobile MedicalĀ Labs is the name of hisĀ company and it is emblazonedĀ on his van. It is a CLIA-certifiedĀ lab offering both molecularĀ and rapid antigen tests forĀ COVID-19. Foley’s lab companyĀ has a relationship withĀ Baylor Genetics LaboratoriesĀ for PCR tests.

MORE ON: Taft Foley III

His company has done 500Ā COVID-19 tests to date andĀ has earned local and nationalĀ news coverage. Foley, an honorĀ student and Eagle Scout, saysĀ the colleges on his radar screenĀ include Harvard, Stanford,Ā Princeton, and Yale. PathologyĀ programs at these universitiesĀ might want to reach outĀ to Foley and encourage him toĀ follow a path into laboratoryĀ medicine and pathology.

KALORAMA SAYSĀ $12 BILLION SPENTĀ YEARLY ON LDTS

Government and private health plans are struggling to manageĀ the explosion in the numberĀ of claims submitted for laboratory-developed tests (LDTs).Ā In a just-issued report fromĀ Kalorama Information ofĀ Arlington, Va., the company says the market for LDTs ā€œisĀ currently valued at $12 billionĀ and this figure will grow toĀ $17 billion by 2025.ā€ It furtherĀ notes that ā€œthe COVID-19Ā pandemic is driving demandĀ for new LDTs even as regulatoryĀ agencies fight over howĀ to regulate the tests.ā€ As publishedĀ in the Oct. 4 issue ofĀ The Dark Report, California-based Bruce Quinn AssociatesĀ LLC, did an analysis ofĀ 2019 Medicare payment dataĀ and determined that from 2018Ā to 2019 (pre-pandemic), spendingĀ on genetic tests, includingĀ LDTs, increased by as muchĀ as 700% during that period forĀ four Medicare AdministrativeĀ Contractors (MACs). PathologistsĀ and lab executives shouldĀ expect payers to take aggressiveĀ actions to manage the dramaticĀ rise in the number of LDTĀ claims, such as cutting fees paid Ā for LDTs in coming years.

TRANSITIONS

• Proscia, Inc., of Philadelphia,Ā named pathologist MonicaĀ Santamaria-Fries Cambridge,Ā MD, as its first Digital TransformationĀ Officer. She previouslyĀ worked at KaiserĀ Permanente in California forĀ 32 years.

• Becton Dickinson of FranklinĀ Lakes, N.J., promoted DaveĀ Hickey to the position of ExecutiveĀ Vice President and PresidentĀ of Life Sciences, effectiveĀ Jan. 1, 2021. Hickey currentlyĀ is BD’s Worldwide PresidentĀ of Integrated Diagnostics SolutionsĀ and prior to BD, he heldĀ executive positions with SiemensĀ Ā Diagnostics.

That’s all the insider intelligence for this report.Ā Look for the next briefing on Monday, November 16, 2020.

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