PRESS RELEASE
THE DARK REPORT
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Ron Martin
rbmartin@darkreport.com
AUSTIN, Texas (April 23, 2014) – Healthcare in the United States is undergoing a dramatic change, partly due to long-term economic trends, others due to unprecedented healthcare reform legislation. In the short term, insurance coverage for individuals is in a dynamic, unpredictable state as health insurance companies adapt to new legislation, millions of patients are forced to shift to different insurance policies, and millions more are encouraged to buy insurance policies. Longer-term trends of those insurance policies, however, are higher deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket expenses for patients.
A look at current trends paints a frightening picture: U.S. hospitals performed $46 billion in uncompensated healthcare in 2013, and the two largest commercial laboratory companies in the U.S. combined have approximately $470 million in bad debt. From the point of view of laboratories and other healthcare providers, this means higher percentages of reimbursement must come from the patients themselves. In order to stay competitive, laboratories and healthcare providers need to find ways of guaranteeing that they collect money owed for services.
“Never before have clinical diagnostic laboratories and pathology groups faced such a financially dynamic marketplace,” says Robert L. Michel, Editor-In-Chief of The Dark Report. “Hospitals and clinical laboratories are stuck with record levels of unreimbursed care and bad debt, making it nearly impossible to keep afloat. A change is needed in terms of both infrastructure and culture in how laboratories collect their monies. Luckily, technology that pinpoints what patients’ insurance covers already exists, just waiting for laboratories and healthcare providers to implement it.”
The Dark Report is pleased to offer a recently published FREE White Paper about how labs can decrease bad debt and minimize unreimbursed services. It is titled, “Collecting More Dollars From Patients: Why It’s Time For Clinical Labs and Pathology Groups To Move To The Retail Model.” Published by The Dark Report and Dark Daily, it is available free to laboratory professionals as a PDF download.
Along with other topics, this white paper includes:
- What’s changing in health insurance that requires patients to pay more out of pocket
- How healthcare is being pressured by bad debt and decreased reimbursement
- Why clinical labs and pathology groups are unprepared to collect directly from patients
- How to increase collections and reduce bad debt by moving to a retail model
- Why laboratories need to implement new payment strategies now
The paper’s editors are the President and Chief Executive Officer of tevixMD, William Todd Andros and Jim Whitehurst, Chief Sales Officer. Mr. Andros has an extensive background in operations management, product management, product marketing and sales management in the computer and telecommunications industries. Prior to leading tevixMD, Andros was Vice President of Marketing and Product Planning for Equitrac Corporation. Prior to that he held positions of increasing responsibility at Telefind Corporation, Siemens Information System, IBM, and Mitel. Mr. Whitehurst is responsible for all sales, marketing and business development activities at tevixMD. Prior to tevixMD, Whitehurst worked as Vice President of Sales at ASPYRA LLC. Before that, he worked as VP of Sales for Halfpenny Technologies and as VP of Sales and Marketing for Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc.
This White Paper, “Collecting More Dollars From Patients: Why It’s Time For Clinical Labs and Pathology Groups To Move To The Retail Model,” is available for free download as a PDF at http://darkdaily.com/white-papers/collecting-more-dollars-from-patients-why-its-time-for-clinical-labs-and-pathology-groups-to-move-to-the-retail-model-422 . It is part of the Dark Daily Resource Center, which has a growing library of White Papers and other information resources tailored specifically for the needs of laboratory administrators, lab managers, pathologists, and lab industry consultants.
About THE DARK REPORT
Established in 1995, THE DARK REPORT is the leading source of exclusive business intelligence for laboratory CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Pathologists and senior industry executives. It is widely read by leaders in laboratory medicine and diagnostics. THE DARK REPORT produces the famous Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management every spring, which showcases innovations by the nation and globe’s leading laboratory organizations. Dark Daily is an Internet-based e-briefing intelligence service, read worldwide by thought leaders in laboratory and pathology management. Other well-known conferences conducted by THE DARK REPORT are Lab Quality Confab (on the use of Lean and Six Sigma methods in labs and hospitals) and Molecular Summit (on the integration of in vivo and in vitro diagnostics). THE DARK REPORT co-produces Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine annually in the United Kingdom; Executive Edge bi-annually in Canada; and The Business of Pathology bi-annually in Australia.
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