CLMA’s Inaugural ICE Award Recognizes the Initiative at Seattle Children’s Hospital Laboratories that Decreased Unnecessary Genetic Tests while Contributing to Better Patient Outcomes

The Clinical Laboratory Management Association is encouraging medical laboratories to submit abstracts about their programs to deliver more value to patients and physicians through the use of clinical pathology laboratory tests Now, more than ever, the house of laboratory medicine needs to be publishing clinic studies and evidence that the money spent on appropriate medical laboratory testing is returned tenfold from improved patient outcomes and substantial reductions in the cost per episode...

CLMA Is Launching New Program to Help Clinical Laboratories Develop Patient-Centric Services and Deliver More Value to ACOs and Medical Homes

To help medical laboratories understand how to deliver patient-centric lab testing services, the Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA) has launched its “Increasing Clinical Effectiveness” (ICE) program. CLMA President Paul Epner (pictured above) will be conducting a free webinar about the ICE program on August 12 and the details of ICE and the webinar can be found at the CLMA website. (Photo copyright CLMA.) Increasing Clinical Effectiveness’ is the name of new initiative that CLMA...

Clinical Laboratories and Pathologists Dodge a Bullet as CMS Publishes Proposed Repeal Rule Dealing with Physician Signature Requirement on Paper Requisitions for Lab Tests

Proposed repeal rule was published in yesterday’s Federal Register Yesterday, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers got an early Fourth of July present. That’s because the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed rule that repeals the requirement that paper requisitions for medical laboratory tests must have the physician’s signature. This rule had been mandated by the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule that was to take effect on January 1,...

Good News for Clinical Laboratories as CMS Delays Physician’s Signature Requirement

Medicare Program Won’t Enforce the New Rule For At Least 90 Days Yesterday brought welcome news for all clinical laboratories and pathology group practices in the United States. That’s because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted an announcement on its website that it would delay enforcement of the final rule requiring that physician’s signatures be on all paper requisitions for Medicare patients starting January 1, 2011. This includes laboratory test requisitions. This...

Inside the Recent CLMA and USCAP Meetings

Last week, The Dark Report was in San Diego and Houston to attend the annual meetings of the United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) and the Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA). Time spent in the exhibit halls of both meetings spoke volumes about the changing trends in the laboratory profession. First was the USCAP meeting, conducted in San Diego, California. This is a growing meeting and attracts more than 3,000 pathologists from countries around the world. One...
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