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Effective Strategies to Counter Low Managed Care Reimbursement for Lab Testing

Effective managed care contracting strategies countering ever-lower reimbursement for lab and pathology services will be one valuable highlight of the upcoming Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management , scheduled for May 13-14, 2008 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Florida. Equally important will be news about the latest developments in the Medicare Laboratory Competitive Bidding Demonstration project now unfolding in the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Carlos MSA (metropolitan statistical area).

The Executive War College full agenda and speaker line-up has just been released! If you can't click on the link, paste this URL into your browser: http://www.executivewarcollege.com/agenda.htm.
 
Featured speaker on managed care contracting is Rob O'Brien, who, until recent months, was responsible for all laboratory and pathology service contracts for Aetna.  As a Principal of KJC Healthcare Solutions, O'Brien will share inside perspectives about the latest developments in managed care contracting. He's been tasked with providing War College attendees with a concise understanding of serious issues on the payer side of the negotiating table, along with effective strategies labs and pathology groups can use to improve their contract terms.

In supporting sessions, Michael Synder, formerly with UnitedHealth Group, and Kerry Kaplan, who consults with health plans and major employers, will provide laboratory executives and pathologists with additional secrets about winning contract strategies. Attorney Jane Pine Wood of McDonald Hopkins will address important legal issues that have recently surfaced as regional payers have tried to slash reimbursement in their latest contract talks with pathology groups.

Exclusive presentations by other laboratory leaders and innovators will address surprising developments in information technology and the push to better integrate the data flows between laboratories, hospitals, and office-based physicians. Paul Smolke, Managing Director, Healthcare Strategy, Microsoft Corporation, will give attendees an inside look at how healthcare information technology is evolving toward full integration of informatics. Microsoft is placing big bets on the healthcare market, and its new HealthVault consumer health site is supported by a growing number of the world's largest health-based corporations.

In future e-briefings, I will comment on other important trends at the upcoming Executive War College. For those of you who would like to see all 49 topics and speakers, visit http://www.excutivewarcollege.com for the complete program.
 

Yours truly,
 

Robert L. Michel
Dark Daily Editor


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