Mar 9, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
New demonstration project bundles Part A and Part B payments for certain clinical services
In January, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched its test drive of a proposed bundled payment concept it hopes will generate improved quality of care and cost efficiencies. The Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration project replaces fee-for-service (FFS) with global payments for orthopedic or cardiovascular inpatient procedures or both at the five participating hospitals.
A bundled payment is a single payment for both Part A and Part B Medicare services provided during a single inpatient stay. Currently, Medicare Part A pays hospitals a single predicted amount under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System for all care provided during an inpatient stay. Physicians, laboratories, and other providers with a role in a patient’s care are paid separately for services performed under Part B. (more…)
Mar 6, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Is your laboratory ready to cope with our nation’s economic turmoil? Collapse of the financial markets has already undermined hospital/health system finances. Check out this news story: “U.S. hospital profits fall to zero – Thomson Reuters,” published just days ago on March 2, 2009.
In the midst of this unprecedented economic chaos, the new president and the new Congress are declaring their intent to makeover healthcare according to their vision! Collectively, these developments threaten the financial integrity of every clinical laboratory and pathology group in the United States.
Lab administrators and pathologists need insights, strategies, and practical advice to batten down their laboratories and weather these unprecedented economic storms. You will find all this and more at the 14th annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, scheduled for April 28-29, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Mar 5, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
New York Times says: “Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself”
New President Barack Obama is not wasting any time when it comes to healthcare reform. Today, he’s convening a healthcare summit in Washington, DC. Invited are stakeholders that range from business and labor groups to providers, health insurers, and consumer groups.
In its prospective coverage of this healthcare summit yesterday, the New York Times used the headline “Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself” . The NYT reporter pointedly observed that a great distance has been maintained between Hillary Clinton and the White House on the subject of healthcare. In fact, the Secretary of State will be in Brussells, Belgium, today—thousands of miles removed from Obama’s health summit!
On the other hand, NYT reporter Sheryl Gay Stolbert observed that Obama is surrounding himself with Clinton advisors, writing “Mr. Obama is at once trying to distance himself from the baggage Mrs. Clinton carries as the architect of that plan, while demonstrating that he has learned from it. He is drawing on the experiences of a host of aides who are Clinton veterans, notably Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. But he is not relying on Mrs. Clinton herself.”
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Mar 4, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
With a new president and a new Congress declaring that the time has come to reform the American healthcare system, at least one recent study indicates a shift in public opinion toward support for an overhaul of the health care system and a growing consensus for universal health care.
Eight in 10 Americans favor fundamental changes to improve quality or a complete rebuild of outdated delivery systems. Among those surveyed, there is broad agreement, regardless of socioeconomics, insurance status and political differences, that health care reform should be a national priority. Respondents want reform to address quality, access and costs, according to this report released last summer, Public Views on U.S. Health System Organization: A Call for New Directions, sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund.
If there was a big surprise, it was the finding that a significant number of people are unhappy with their own health care. A majority of insured (70%) and uninsured (80%) respondents in the survey complained about these issues:
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Mar 2, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Acquisition will particularly strengthen Beckman’s presence in clinical chemistry market
Monday, March 2, 2009
Last Friday, Beckman Coulter Inc. (NYSE:BEC) announced that it will pay $800 million acquire the diagnostics business of Olympus Corporation. This is a major transaction that further consolidates the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry, particularly given the respective market shares in clinical chemistry currently held by both Beckman and Olympus. (more…)
