Aug 30, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Recent White Papers detail solutions for medical laboratories and pathology groups
Medical laboratories and pathology groups are facing enormous levels of change in their clinical, regulatory and financial environments. As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is implemented. labs see downward pressure on reimbursement at the federal and payer level, coupled with increased emphasis on efficiency and quality. Couple that with a shift from fee-for-service reimbursement to fee-for-quality reimbursement strategies, and clinical laboratories and pathology groups are pushed to find tools to increase their competitiveness.
DarkDaily.com is pleased to offer two recently published free White Papers which can show laboratory managers and pathologists how to more effectively make changes to improve workflow, increase efficiency and safety, and identify, evaluate and solve problems as they are occurring.
“Harnessing the Power of Real-Time Analytics to Achieve World Class Performance in Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups: How innovative medical laboratories can combine analytics with medical laboratory information systems to improve lab operations, cut costs, and boost productivity” outlines how laboratories can draw on business, logistical and medical data inherent in the laboratory information systems (LIS) to more effectively make changes to improve workflow, increase efficiency, and identify, valuate, and solve problems as they occur.
Another White Paper, “Advances in Pathology Tissue Management Reduce Formalin Use, Improve Quality and Cut Costs” offers a look at the risks of formalin use, trends in formalin use and disposal, and how laboratory and operating room workflow is affected by it. Alternate methods for storing and preserving pathology specimens is introduced as are descriptions of changes to workflow, benefits in terms of healthcare worker safety, and the safety and economic benefits of these changes.
DarkDaily readers can access free White Papers on a variety of topics. In a typical month, DarkDaily.com is visited by pathology laboratory managers and professional in as many as 180 different countries across the globe.
Dec 16, 2013 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Across the nation, as many as 500 ACOs are organizing or already delivering clinical services to as many as 43 million Americans
There is no better way to track the progress of accountable care organizations (ACOs) than to monitor a list of the largest ACOs in the United States. Many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers already serve patients who are enrolled in ACOs.
Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm headquartered in New York City, is tracking the development of ACOs in different regions of the nation. It recently published the statistics on the number of ACOs and estimated ACO enrollment.
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Aug 30, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
Confusion, unhappiness, and many unresolved issues remain about the way government and private payers are handling claims for molecular diagnostic tests covered by the 114 new CPT codes
Dust is settling from the fiasco triggered by the Medicare program’s failure to be ready on January 1, 2013, to settle molecular diagnostic test claims filed under the 114 new Tier 1 and Tier 2 molecular CPT codes. The damage is not just limited to Medicare test claims, but also involves private health plans that were waiting to let the Medicare program set precedents on coverage and prices for the new molecular test codes.
Many Clinical Laboratories Must Cope With an Unsatisfactory Situation
Although federal Medicare officials and Medicare contractors have scrambled to rectify the situation, even today there is much unhappiness across the clinical laboratory industry about the current state of things. That unhappiness extends to state Medicaid and private payers because many of these payers have been slow to publish coverage guidelines and prices for these new molecular test CPT codes.
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Jun 26, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Complying with this standard will help reduce errors by improving specimen handling and tracking, and also reduce lab costs by boosting accuracy and quality.
Clinical laboratories have about nine months to comply with a new standard for bar code labels. The deadline for compliance to AUTO12-A, Specimen Labels: Content and Location, Fonts, and Label Orientation, is April 29, 2014.
While compliance next year will not affect a lab’s accreditation, in the coming years accrediting bodies, such as The Joint Commission and the College of American Pathologists are expected to require medical laboratories to comply with this bar code label standard.
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Jun 21, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Medicare contractors are setting prices that are 40% to 60% lower than they paid medical laboratories last year for these same molecular diagnostic tests
Non-payment for most new molecular diagnostic test CPT codes continues to be a problem for the majority of medical laboratories across the country.
A lack of payment for these claims, have forced some clinical laboratories and pathology groups to stop doing molecular testing and lay off staff. At least one lab company shut its doors, blaming non-payment by its Medicare contractor as the primary reason.
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