Hospital Associations and Healthcare Groups Battle HHS Efforts to Expand Pricing Transparency Rules to Include Negotiated Rates with Payers

Jan 29, 2020 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology

In a federal lawsuit, seven healthcare organizations and hospitals systems allege HHS exceeded its statutory authority and clinical laboratories will want to watch how this court case unfolds There is quite a brouhaha over the final new federal rule requiring hospitals to allow patients and the public to see the prices they charge for services—including clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology prices. Some very influential hospital associations and healthcare systems are opposing...

Colorado Hospitals Share Self-Pay Prices as New Transparency Law Takes Effect; Hospital Medical Laboratories and Anatomic Pathologists Working with Hospitals Could be Impacted

Apr 27, 2018 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations

Regardless of potential confusion, the bill’s passage is seen as a positive step toward greater transparency by high-level members of the state’s government In an effort to promote price transparency in healthcare, Colorado legislators passed a new law requiring hospitals in that state to post self-pay prices for the most common procedures and treatments. Their hope is healthcare consumers who lack insurance will find it easier to price shop and, therefore, make informed healthcare decisions....

UCSF Study Puts Spotlight on the High Prices of Medical Laboratory Tests Charged by California Hospitals

Dec 3, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Laboratory Testing

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco revealed that the cost for a simple cholesterol test ranged from as little as $10 to as much as $10,169! Clinical laboratories owned by hospitals and health systems should take note of a public study of hospital laboratory test prices that was conducted by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). It was published this summer and showed a remarkable range of prices for medical laboratory tests charged by...

Government Wants Seniors with Medigap Policies to Pay More Out-of-Pocket, but Health Insurance Association Gives ‘Thumbs Down’ to the Idea

Feb 15, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology

Raising the out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries with Medigap  policies not likely to be favorable for medical laboratories If federal officials have their way, Medicare beneficiaries with comprehensive Medigap polices are likely to pay a greater share of the cost of their medical care. The goal is to reduce use of unnecessary medical services and save Medicare money. For clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, this may not be a welcome development. That’s because any...

Biomedical and Molecular Diagnostics Firms Compete To Hire Already-Scarce Medical Laboratory Technologists

Sep 14, 2011 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology

In Silicon Valley, biotech and molecular companies “raid” hospital laboratories to hire away MTs and CLSs Competition for already hard-to-find medical technologists (MT) and clinical laboratory scientists (CLS) is heating up as biomedical and molecular development companies vie with hospitals and medical laboratories for these highly-prized workers. Growth in demand for MTs and CLSs by biotech companies means that clinical laboratories will face stiff competition when recruiting and hiring for...