Apr 22, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
A hospital in Virginia now offers a genetic service to new parents that could impact clinical pathology laboratories if it develops into a trend
Here’s a first in the rapidly-developing field of pharmacogenomics testing. A hospital in Virginia announced that it would offer a free pharmacogenomics test to newborns. This is a development that will catch the attention of clinical pathologists and medical laboratory professionals at other hospitals across the country.
Inova Women’s Services at the Inova Woman’s Hospital on the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, VA, has begun offering free MediMap tests to newborns. MediMap is a pharmacogenomics (PGx) test that looks for variations in seven genes that could indicate a child might process certain drugs differently than the majority of the population.
The program is an example of a well-known and often-used marketing tactic: “Buy X and get Y free!” Given the choice between a new free diaper bag and a free, painless test that, as Inova’s website states, “personalizes prescriptions to more effectively treat and manage illnesses in the future,” what new mother would choose the diaper bag? (more…)
Jan 8, 2016 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Pathologists will be interested to learn that this latest version of the acoustic tweezer device requires about five hours to identify the CTCs in a sample of blood
Medical laboratory leaders and pathologists are well aware that circulating tumor cells (CTCs) released by primary tumors into the bloodstream are fragile and easily damaged. Many studies have sought to find ways to separate CTCs from surrounding cells. Such a process could then be used as an early-detection biomarker to detect cancer from a sample of blood.
One team of researchers believe it has a way to accomplish this. These researchers are using sound waves to gently detect and isolate CTCs in blood samples. In turn, this could make it possible to diagnose cancer using “liquid biopsies” as opposed to invasive conventional biopsies.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in collaboration with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have developed a method for using acoustic tweezers and sound waves to separate blood-borne cancer cells from white blood cells. The research team believes this new device could one day replace invasive biopsies, according to a CMU article. (more…)
Dec 18, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
AJMC study shows ACOs that allocate majority of shared savings to primary care providers are more likely to generate savings
When it came time to pay bonuses to Medicare’s Pioneer ACOs and Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs based on 2014 results, a substantial proportion of the payments went to primary care physicians compared to hospitals and specialist physicians. Significantly, only a minority of these ACOs qualified for bonus payments.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers watching the growth of ACOs will find it notable that primary care doctors received 46% of the shared-savings bonuses in the program’s first two years. Hospitals received 27% of the incentives while 20% went to specialists, according to a Modern Healthcare report.
High Expectations That ACOs Can Help Control Healthcare Costs
Twenty Pioneer ACOs and 333 Medicare’s Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs combined to produce more than $411 million in total savings in 2014, although only 29% of the organizations generated enough savings to earn a bonus, a CMS Fact Sheet indicated.
“These results show that accountable care organizations as a group are on the path towards transforming how care is provided,” stated CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt in a statement. “Many of these ACOs are demonstrating that they can deliver a higher level of coordinated care that leads to healthier people and smarter spending.” (more…)
Nov 25, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Clinical laboratories and pathology groups can expect to see more growth in the number of patients served by ACOs and that will require labs to have a new pricing strategy
Will ACOs be the next big thing in American healthcare? Many people are betting that will be true as the number of ACOs continues to increase. Some reports indicate that as many as 750 Medicare and private ACOs were in operation as of early 2015, compared to about 250 ACOs in 2013.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers watching the ACO trend will find it significant that Medicare ACOs now serve about 5.6 million beneficiaries. According to a report issued by Oliver Wyman, that is about 11% of all Medicare beneficiaries. Providers in these ACOs are paid under a different arrangement than the long-established Part B fee-for-service price schedule.
The big question mark about ACOs is whether they can deliver significant cost savings while improving patient outcomes. This summer, officials at the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported on the savings generated by the agency’s pilot ACO programs. The two main accountable care organization programs are the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and the Pioneer ACO Program. (more…)
Sep 14, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
There’s even a company called Translational Software providing a service to incorporate enriched information about such tests into the reports that labs deliver to doctors
Personalized medicine is the good news story in healthcare and clinical laboratory medicine today. Armed with new understanding about the human genome, physicians are able to customize therapies for patients that will produce the best outcomes while avoiding or minimizing the negative side effects associated with many common prescription drugs.
This is why pharmacogenomics testing is a booming segment of the clinical laboratory industry. On its website, the Duke Center for Personalized and Precision Medicine describes this emerging lab medicine specialty as follows: “Pharmacogenomic tests are used to inform dosing and predict efficacy and adverse events for therapeutic agents. Most tests involve genetic testing, and in the case of cancer, both the DNA of the host and the tumor can be used to inform the choices for treatment.” (more…)
