Sep 7, 2018 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
Healthcare revenue cycle consultant Jonathan Wiik suggests healthcare providers must prepare their organizations for patients who need help paying increasing medical costs When patients cannot pay their bills, all of healthcare—including clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups—also struggle. And, according to experts, medical laboratories already complying with federal value-based payment programs and precision medicine directives should expect increased pressure from patients...
Jun 22, 2018 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, Webinars
As PAMA brings estimated Medicare reimbursement cuts of up to 30% over the next three years to a range of typically high-volume tests and diagnostics, medical laboratories that wish to stay competitive must understand the needs of managed care payers and learn how to optimize collections, reduce denials, and communicate value effectively or risk their financial health In what experts have called the biggest financial upheaval for the healthcare industry in three decades, the onset of new...
Jun 18, 2018 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Clinical laboratories will want to develop value-based lab testing services as the nation’s largest health insurers prepare to engage with Medicare Advantage patients in record numbers UnitedHealth Group (UNH), the nation’s largest health insurer, forecasts wildly impressive growth of Medicare Advantage plans and value-based care. If this happens, it would further shrink the proportion of fee-for-service payments to providers, including medical laboratories. Changes to how clinical...
May 18, 2018 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
From reduced medical laboratory test ordering to dealing with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups are impacted daily by rising healthcare costs. Until now, however, one demographic was not affected—affluent Americans. But that is no longer the case. According to Bloomberg, thousands of people—some earning more than $125,000 a year—are now foregoing health insurance altogether and instead choosing concierge medicine because it costs less....
Apr 16, 2018 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Recent studies exploring the economics behind the high price of US healthcare independently point to the price of labor, goods, services, administrative costs, and pharmaceuticals as primary reason why the US spends almost twice as much as peer countries on healthcare It is regularly reported that the cost of healthcare in the United States is notably more expensive that in most developed nations. Overutilization of medical services in this country is often given as a reason why this is true....
Dec 11, 2017 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
While proposals might change before the final CMS draft, lobbyists see potential for improving Medicare payment totals and structures in the upcoming 2018 outpatient rule and physician fee schedule At this time, efforts by medical laboratories to lobby and educate Medicare officials and members of Congress about the flaws in the Medicare program’s market study of what private health insurers pay for clinical laboratory tests have failed to trigger positive action on this matter. But despite...
