CMS Releases Revision to State Operations Manual Special Procedures for Laboratories

Oct 18, 2019 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily

Presenters at the 13th Annual Lab Quality Confab 2019 discussed the negative impact of disparities between medical laboratory processes and SOPs ATLANTA, Oct. 18, 2019—Several weeks ago, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quietly released QSO-19-20-CLIA: Revisions to State Operations Manual (SOM), Chapter 6—Special Procedures for Laboratories. The release, which went to all State Survey Agency Directors, includes a “comprehensive revision to establish quality laboratory...

Federal Advisory Committee Seeks Public Comments on Revising CLIA Regulations, says Keynote Speaker at 13th Annual Lab Quality Confab in Atlanta

Oct 16, 2019 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily

At The Dark Report’s annual Lab Quality Confab for clinical laboratory administrators, managers, and quality team members, experts outline how disruption in healthcare requires labs to improve processes and cut costs ATLANTA, Oct. 15, 2019—Clinical laboratory professionals have a chance to advise the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how the federal government could revise the regulations under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). That’s...

Clinical Laboratory Leaders Agree: Showing Value Is More Important than Ever as Healthcare Transitions Away from Fee-for Service Reimbursement

Sep 25, 2019 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily

How medical laboratories can show value through process improvement methods and analytics will be among many key topics presented at the upcoming Lab Quality Confab conference Quality management is the clinical laboratory’s best strategy for surviving and thriving in this era of shrinking lab budgets, PAMA price cuts, and value-based payment. In fact, the actions laboratories take in the next few months will set the course for their path to clinical success and financial sustainability in 2020...

Federal Investigations into Alleged Kickback Schemes between Hospitals and Physicians Increase in Number and Scope

Aug 14, 2019 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations

Hospitals and other organizations are finding ways to pay physicians for referrals in ways that don’t always look like kickbacks Hospitals nationwide are being scrutinized by the federal Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for allegedly violating federal anti-kickback statutes. This will be of interest to clinical pathology laboratories that have been under a similar spotlight for various referral-kickback schemes and arrangements in the last few years, which Dark Daily repeatedly...

Medical Laboratory Testing Company uBiome Raided by FBI for Alleged Insurance Fraud and Questionable Business Practices

Aug 9, 2019 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement

Following the raid, the company’s co-founders resigned from the board of directors Microbiome testing company, uBiome, a biotechnology developer that offers at-home direct-to-consumer (DTC) test kits to health-conscious individuals who wish to learn more about the bacteria in their gut, or who want to have their microbiome genetically sequenced, has recently come under investigation by insurance companies and state regulators that are looking into the company’s business practices. CNBC...

Are Clinical Laboratories Prepared to Cope with Outrage Over Surprise Medical Billing? Patient Access Management May Be an Effective Solution

Jul 22, 2019 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations

Consumer demand and federal requirements for price transparency affect how clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups meet patients’ expectations while navigating complex payer agreements Regardless of a clinical laboratory’s payer mix and revenue cycle management (RCM) system, the demand for greater price transparency impacts laboratory services just as it does other healthcare services. Addressing new federal policies that support price transparency may require medical laboratory...