May 14, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical Laboratory leaders can expect increasing demand for LIS-physician EHR integration
Hospitals are adopting electronic health records (EHR) at an accelerating rate. That’s the good news. But many hospitals lack the resources to acquire an EHR and implement it in a fast and robust manner, as many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers know from experience.
That makes the accomplishment of Banner Health all the more impressive. Last week, it was announced that 17 of Banner’s 22 hospitals have achieved Stage 7 of the EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM) developed by HIMSS Analytics, which is part of the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS).
Banner Hospitals Reach Higher EHR Functionality
InformationWeek Healthcare published a story about this news. It stated that those 17 Banner hospitals “have developed a comprehensive EHR that includes everything from computerized physician order entry and electronic documentation to a data warehouse, closed-loop medication administration, and health information exchange capability.”
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May 11, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Pathology
AMA opposition to ICD-10 deadline moves HHS to reconsider, while leaving some transition-ready providers rankled
When it comes to implementation of ICD-10 in the United States, the “do it later” crowd seems to have convinced the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the need to once again move back the compliance date for ICD-10. On April 9, HHS announced a proposed rule to defer implementation by one year, with a new effective date of October 1, 2014.
Clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups have a big stake in a successful transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Among other reasons, Medicare Part B claims for medical laboratory tests must be submitted with an appropriate ICD code [provided by the physician who ordered the lab tests] for the clinical lab or pathology group to be paid by the Medicare program.
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Mar 26, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
Where hospital margins to be squeezed, that would place hospital laboratories under greater budget constraints
Hospitals are honing in on Medicare’s new value-based purchasing program quality metrics in an effort to improve patient care—and earn reimbursement rewards. Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists will want to track implementation of this program, because it is one further step forward in Medicare’s plan to move away from fee-for-service reimbursement.
As part of its effort to drive quality improvement at U.S. hospitals, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final rules in 2011 for the first year of its Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP). The program is a pay-for-performance initiative that begins in fiscal 2013. Modern Healthcare reported on this story.
“[The HVBP structure] has been very eye-opening to a lot of people because we are not used to being compared that way,” observed Jeff Costello. He is Chief Financial Officer at Memorial Hospital & Health System in South Bend, Indiana. This 526-bed institution is on the latest Thomson Reuters’ 100 Top Hospitals list.
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Mar 7, 2012 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical laboratory outreach programs gain favor because of many clinical benefits—along with healthy profit margins
In the wake of the severe recession and weak recovery, hospitals across the country recognized they could no longer carry unprofitable programs. That is why, in recent years, a growing number of hospitals reduced or discontinued unprofitable services even as the number of hospital clinical laboratory outreach programs increased.
During this same time, the hospital industry actively expanded into lucrative lines of business, such as clinical laboratory testing. This is an auspicious trend for pathologists and medical laboratories, particularly those who work for hospitals and health systems.
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Jun 21, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Major healthcare stakeholders speaking out with criticisms of federal ACO rules
It may be that the Obama administration bit off more than it can chew with its first release of proposed rules for Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). Lining up in opposition to these rules is an impressive list of the nation’s most respected healthcare organizations. Included are Mayo Clinic, Geisinger Health System, Cleveland Clinic, and Intermountain Healthcare.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will undoubtedly recognize the significance of this opposition. Health officials within the Obama administration have regularly stated that ACOs should be organized to deliver the same type of tightly integrated healthcare that is the standard at Mayo Clinic, Geisinger Health, Cleveland Clinic, and Intermountain Health. Thus, it is not auspicious for the Obama administration that these four institutions are making public statements that, under the ACO rules as now written, they are not inclined to participate.
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