Jun 10, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical laboratory outreach program at Catholic Medical Center sees new lab competitors entering the Manchester market
DATELINE: MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE—Here in the Granite State, clinical laboratories and pathology groups must respond to a growing number of healthcare market trends. This was obvious to your Dark Daily Editor during his site visit earlier this week to the medical laboratory at Catholic Medical Center, which is one of Manchester’s major hospitals.
Often, states with relatively small populations, like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, have the luxury of watching the latest healthcare trends emerge first in the major urban centers like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. However, the accelerating pace of change across all of healthcare is changing that situation.
In Manchester, New Hampshire, competition among hospitals in the community is quite intense. According to Roberta E. Provencal, Director of Laboratory Services at Catholic Medical Center, there is equally intense competition in the outreach market for both clinical laboratory testing and anatomic pathology services. “Manchester has about 110,000 people, and there are 1.3 million in all of New Hampshire,” observed Provencal. “Yet, even though these are not large healthcare markets, we have more lab competitors marketing to doctors’ offices in our city than at any time in the past 20 years. (more…)
May 20, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
A final settlement between both parties may become the template state officials use to resolve Medi-Cal overcharge claims involving other clinical pathology laboratories
Authorities in California and Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) appear to be close to resolving a major lawsuit involving allegations that the nation’s largest clinical laboratory company had overcharged Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, for a period of years beginning in 1995.
Last week, Quest Diagnostics announced it had “reached an agreement in principle to settle a previously disclosed civil lawsuit” and, as part of this agreement in principle, it will pay $241 million to settle the legal matter.
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Mar 31, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Conference on May 5 about clinical laboratory and pathology mergers and acquisitions
For owners and sellers of clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups in the United States, the past six months have been rosy times. That’s because buyers have stepped up and paid strong prices for the medical laboratory companies and pathology testing firms that came to market during this time.
Experts predict that merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the clinical laboratory industry will continue to be robust. Several factors reinforce this optimistic prediction.
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Mar 21, 2011 | Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Celera is not a medical laboratory, but develops biomarkers and molecular diagnostics tests
For the second time since the New Year, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has announced an acquisition. Last Friday, Quest Diagnostics said it had agreed to purchase Celera Corp. (NASDAQ:CRA) for a purchase price that Reuters reported to be $657 million.
What makes this acquisition different from those typically done by Quest Diagnostics and its major competitor, Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE:LH), is that Celera is primarily not a provider of clinical laboratory tests. Rather, it specializes in identifying biomarkers that can be used to develop genetic tests. It is active in the fields of cardiovascular diseases, cancers and neurological disorders. Berkeley HeartLab is one clinical laboratory testing division owned by Celera.
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Feb 24, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
It’s a strong price to pay for this specialty clinical pathology laboratory company
Today, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) announced that it was selling its Athena Diagnostics clinical pathology laboratory business to Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX). The purchase price will be $740 million, making this the highest-priced medical laboratory acquisition of 2011.
Based in Worcester, Massachusetts, Athena Diagnostics is known for its expertise in diagnostic tests for neurological and other diseases. Back in the 1990s, Athena was one of the earliest clinical laboratory companies to build a business around developing proprietary diagnostic tests, then introducing them into the clinical marketplace. Athena Diagnostics currently offers about 350 different assays.
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