Dec 19, 2012 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
Change in who owns office-based physician groups is a trend which can create new winners and losers among the nation’s independent medical laboratories
Physicians today are more willing to practice medicine as employees than as partners or owners of their medical group. This signals a significant shift in the market for clinical laboratory testing and anatomic pathology services.
This new development will require that all medical laboratory organizations to rethink how they serve office-based physicians. New strategies will be required, both to better meet the clinical service needs of these employee-physicians, as well as to redirect sales and marketing programs to the new decision makers. (more…)
Nov 28, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
Unexpected opposition to EHR incentive program should be watched by pathologists and clinical laboratory managers
Questions about the value of the federal government’s program to encourage provider adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems were raised by Republican leaders in both houses of Congress just weeks before the election on November 6.
Because clinical laboratories and pathology groups have a big stake in interfacing their laboratory information systems to physicians’ EHRs, this new development bears watching.
In October, GOP Senators and House Republicans joined together and issued a call for an immediate halt to distribution of incentive payments to providers for implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems. This program is now in its second full year of implementation. (more…)
Nov 21, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
Nation’s smaller independent medical laboratories and pathology groups provide clinical lab testing services in many under-served communities
Nov. 21, 2012, WASHINGTON, DC—Last Thursday, owners of independent clinical laboratory companies fanned out across Capitol Hill to meet with their respective Senators and Representatives. Probably the number one concern of these lab owners was further cuts to the Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Test Fee Schedule.
Congress is preparing to tackle a host of spending issues, not the least which is the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate sustainable growth rates(SGR). Earlier this year, in February, Congress raided Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Test Fees by $2.7 billion over 10 years to provide a source of funding to temporarily fix SGR. (See Dark Daily, “In Fixing Physician Medicare Pay, Congress Enacts Yet Another Cut in Clinical Laboratory Test Fee Schedule,” February 20, 2012.) (more…)
Oct 29, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
Clinical laboratory professionals and pathologists should be aware of significant levels of errors in clinician gene test orders
Almost one-third of medical laboratory test orders for complex gene tests contained mistakes in handling by ordering clinicians. This finding comes from a study by ARUP Laboratories, Inc.. The finding is an early warning flag for pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals that a gap exists between the availability of genetic tests and clinician knowledge of how and when to use them and how to interpret the results. (more…)
Oct 15, 2012 | Uncategorized
Pathologists and medical lab managers can study radiology’s adoption of digital images for useful lessons, says one innovative radiologist
DATELINE: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—During Pathology Informatics 2012, a record crowd gathered last week to explore how new technologies are reshaping both clinical laboratory informatics and anatomic pathology informatics. If there was clear consensus on any single point, it was that every medical laboratory needs a very robust informatics platform to serve the new integrated care models, including accountable care organizations and medical homes.
This will be particularly true for pathology groups because of the growing acceptance of whole slide images and digital pathology systems used to capture those images and make them available to pathologists. On that count, one speaker at Pathology Informatics 2012 had a powerful message that was well received by all in attendance. (more…)
Sep 19, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Pathologists and clinical laboratory administrators have an opportunity to add value to physicians who are transitioning to new ACO model
It is good news for advocates of accountable care organizations (ACOs). Since the beginning of 2012, an ever-growing number of provider organizations have signed up to participate in Medicare ACO contracts.
This steady increase in the number of hospitals and health systems participating in Medicare and private payer ACOs will have at one interesting consequence. It means that the clinical laboratories will be part of the clinical service mix for the ACOs operated by the hospitals and health systems. (more…)
