Nov 9, 2011 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Some medical laboratory organizations risk coming up short on the deadline for implementation of 5010 standards
Less than eight weeks remain before the January 1, 2012, deadline for implementation of Form 5010. Every sector of the healthcare system—from government and private payers to hospitals, physicians, pathologists, and clinical laboratories—is involved in this important healthcare reform.
Many providers and payers are scrambling to meet the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) version 5010 compliance deadline. This is the latest version of standards for the conversion of electronic health records (EHRs).
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to maintain a hard line position regarding the deadline, according to an article in Modern Healthcare. “There is no wiggle room,” Denise Buenning, Director of the Administrative Simplification Group in CMS’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services, stated. “We’re holding fast to the date.”
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Jan 24, 2011 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
It’s All About “Apps” as Physicians Rush to Adopt iPads for Use in Clinical Settings
Evidence is building that iPads are a hit with physicians. Experts are astonished at the rate at which physicians are adopting iPads for their daily clinical practice. That means every clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology group in the United States will need a strategy on how to allow physicians to use their iPads to order medical laboratory tests and view lab results.
One secret as to how clinical laboratories can serve physicians using iPads is to offer them an “app.” Physicians are more intrigued with the apps that can run on the iPad than they are with the hardware itself, according to a recent survey. Even a growing number of hospitals are adopting iPads for use in clinical settings.
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Sep 29, 2010 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Pathology
Ex-employee of Quest Diagnostics allegedly also breached patient privacy laws
By manufacturing a fake positive clinical pathology laboratory test report for a sexually transmitted disease (STD), a medical laboratory manager in Alton, Illinois, set in motion a series of events that made headlines in St. Louis-area newspapers earlier this year. These actions also generated a lawsuit against clinical laboratory manager Maureen Sackmann and her then-employer, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX).
The story is worthy of the best television soap opera plot—and has plenty of cautionary lessons for all clinical laboratory managers and pathologists. Press accounts of the episode indicate that, while working for Quest Diagnostics in Alton, Illinois, Sackmann noticed that a laboratory test report had been generated for a woman (identified only as Jane Doe) who was dating her ex-boyfriend.
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