News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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2023 Executive War College on Diagnostics, Clinical Laboratory, and Pathology Management Announced for April 25-26

New Orleans will once again host the 28th annual gathering for clinical laboratory, pathology, and in vitro diagnostics (IVD) leaders

Clinical laboratory leaders keen on gaining a competitive edge amid a difficult business environment will want to attend the 28th Annual Executive War College on Diagnostics, Clinical Laboratory, and Pathology Management, which returns to New Orleans on April 25-26, 2023.

The 2023 conference comes as clinical laboratories, diagnostics companies, and anatomic pathology practices wrestle with budgets that are strained by inflation, supply chain woes, and the faltering financial performance of parent hospitals and health systems. Meanwhile, lab hiring managers continue to face a severe staffing shortage of diagnostics employees.

For example, in “Medical Technologist Demand Exceeds Supply by Large Margin Across the United States as Clinical Laboratories Scramble to Stay Fully Staffed,” Dark Daily reported how medical technologists and clinical laboratory scientists are in particularly short supply and that some experts do not see this critical shortage waning anytime soon.

“The current twin trends of hospitals losing money and labs struggling to maintain adequate staffing is without parallel in my 30 years of covering the clinical laboratory, diagnostics, and pathology sectors,” said Robert Michel, Founder of the Executive War College and Editor-in-Chief at Dark Daily. “This is a perfect storm that threatens the ability of labs to sustain high-quality testing services in a financially-sustainable manner. At the 2023 Executive War College, we are going to help participants get through this predicament by giving them innovative insights and best-in-class expertise they can take back and implement in their clinical labs and pathology groups.”

“Super early bird” pricing for the 2023 Executive War College ends on Dec. 31.

Robert Michel

“Staffing and supply chain difficulties are not the only burdens facing clinical laboratories,” said Robert Michel (above), Founder of the Executive War College on Diagnostics, Clinical Laboratory, and Pathology Management. “Equally stressful forces are altering how providers, payers, and healthcare consumers access medical laboratory testing and pay for those services.” (Photo copyright: The Dark Intelligence Group.)

Earning New Revenue Will Take Center Stage at 2023 Executive War College

The full agenda for the 2023 Executive War College has not yet been released, but attendees can expect to see keynote presentations and sessions devoted to pressing topics in the diagnostics and laboratory industries. Among them is how to best position the clinical lab as a growing revenue source.

“With financial pressures mounting, we intend to present cutting-edge advice from innovative clinical laboratories, diagnostics companies, and pathology practices about how they earn new revenue—whether that be through creating business opportunities in the community, uncovering new test reimbursements, or using technology to improve existing processes,” Michel explained.

Last spring’s gathering of the Executive War College featured 10 keynotes, 55 sessions, and three post-conference workshops. Participants at the upcoming 2023 Executive War College conference can expect a similar bonanza of educational and professional development options, as well as collaborative networking breaks, luncheons, and receptions.

“The chance to meet innovative peers from across the country, share lab-related challenges with them, and compare effective solutions makes the Executive War College a cost-effective investment for any laboratory administrator, executive, or business-minded pathologist,” Michel added.

Diagnostics Services Will Be Better Reflected at 2023 Conference

For the first time, the conference’s moniker directly reflects the diagnostic work associated with clinical laboratories and pathology groups.

“Long-time attendees will notice that we tweaked the Executive War College’s full title to emphasize ‘diagnostics.’ That term is an important addition,” Michel noted.

“In the recent past, ‘clinical laboratory’ and ‘anatomic pathology’ were terms that sufficiently described the profession of laboratory medicine,” he continued. “However, a subtle but significant change has occurred in recent years. The term ‘diagnostics’ has become a common description for medical testing, along with other diagnostic areas such as radiology and imaging.”

Keep an eye on the conference’s website, ExecutiveWarCollege.com, for updates about the upcoming program and to see the session topics and speakers as they are confirmed and announced.

“The Executive War College is the top gathering for lab leaders to learn from the profession’s best innovators and gain insights they will need to keep their laboratories at the cutting edge of clinical excellence in a financially sustainable manner,” Michel concluded.

Register today to ensure places for you and your management team at the 2023 Executive War College on Diagnostics, Clinical Laboratory, and Pathology Management. Click here for early registration discounts.

Scott Wallask

Related Information:

Executive War College to Be Held April 25-26 in New Orleans

Medical Technologist Demand Exceeds Supply by Large Margin Across the United States as Clinical Laboratories Scramble to Stay Fully Staffed

Hospitals Will Lose Billions of Dollars in 2022

UCLA’s Ozcan Labs Develops Portable Smartphone DNA Detection System That Performs as well as Clinical Laboratory Testing

Mobile point-of-care (POC) smartphone-based nucleic acid assay allows for quick turn arounds and accurate information in any healthcare setting, including resource limited and remote environments 

DNA detection might soon be accomplished with the use of a smartphone. That’s the goal of a research effort at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). If this effort succeeds, it would give medical laboratories a new tool to use in genetic testing.

Clinical laboratory equipment is becoming more effective even as it shrinks in size and cost. One such device has been developed by Ozcan Laboratory Group, headed by UCLA professor Aydogan Ozcan, PhD. It is a portable, smartphone-based mobile lab with sensitivity and reliability on par with large-scale medical laboratory-based equipment.

Ozcan Lab’s portable DNA detection system, according to a UCLA press release, “leverages the sensors and optics of cellphones” and adapts them to read and report the presence of DNA molecules. The sensor uses a new detector dye mixture and reportedly produces a signal that is 10 to 20 times brighter than previous detector dye outputs.

This new system improves upon the optical detection abilities of current point-of-care nucleic acid tests (POCTs) and, according to a study published in the American Chemical Society’s ACS Nano, the device is able to “retain the same robust standards of benchtop lab-based tests.”

Go Anywhere Technology Improves POC Testing

Nucleic acid detecting assays are crucial tools anatomic pathologists use to identify pathogens, detect residual disease markers, and identify treatable mutations of diseases. Due to the need for amplification of nucleic acids for detection with benchtop equipment, there are challenges associated with providing rapid diagnostics outside the clinical laboratory.

The device developed by Ozcan Labs (above) is a “field-portable and cost-effective mobile-phone-based nucleic acid amplification and readout platform [that] is broadly applicable to other real-time nucleic acid amplification tests by similarly modulating intercalating dye performance. It is compatible with any fluorescence-based assay that can be run in a 96-well microplate format, making it especially valuable for POC and resource-limited settings.” (Caption and photo copyright: American Chemical Society.)

Using the new mobile POC nucleic acid testing system developed by Ozcan et al, pathologists can effectively step away from the lab to perform rapid POC testing and accelerated diagnostics onsite, rather than needing to transport materials to and from a central laboratory. The mobile testing assay enables pathologists to carry a medical laboratory with them into the field, or into limited-resource or decentralized testing environments, without sacrificing quality or sensitivity. And according to the ACS Nano article, at a relatively low-cost compared to benchtop nucleic acid testing equipment.

In an article published in Future Medicine, Ozcan and Hatice Ceylan Koydemir, PhD, a post-doctoral researcher in electrical engineering at UCLA, comment on the growing interest in mobile POC diagnostics, stating that smartphone-based devices and platforms have the potential “to be used for early detection and prevention of a variety of health problems.”

According to the article, smartphone-based sensing and imaging platforms have been developed to:

  • Analyze chemicals and biological specimens;
  • Perform advanced cytometry and bright-field/fluorescence microscopy;
  • Detect bacterial contamination;
  • Image nano-sized specimens;
  • Detect antimicrobial drug resistance; and
  • Analyze enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based testing.

Smartphones, according to Ozcan and Koydemir, have been adapted to a range of biomedical measurement tools, “have the potential to transform traditional uses of imaging, sensing, and diagnostic systems, especially for point-of-care applications and field settings,” and can provide speedy results.

A ‘Highly Stable’ and Sensitive System

The proof-of-concept study of Ozcan Lab’s new smartphone-based detection system and new detector dye mixture was led by Janay E. Kong, PhD in bioengineering at UCLA, with the help of Ozcan and fellow professors Dino Di Carlo, PhD, professor of bioengineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA, and Omai Garner, PhD, associate professor of clinical microbiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

According to an article in Bioscience Technologies, the new smartphone DNA detection system addresses issues with detection of light emitted from intercalator dyes, which are normally “too subtle and unstable for regular cellphone camera sensors.” The new system uses loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to amplify DNA in connection with a newly developed dye that uses hydroxynaphthol blue (HNB) as an indicator.

The inclusion of HNB into the dye, according to the original research study, “yields 20 times higher fluorescent signal change over background compared to current intercalating dyes,” making the results bright enough for smartphone camera sensors without “interfering with the nucleic acid amplification process.” The original study reports that the digital LAMP system and use of the HNB intercalating dye, in fact, provided “significantly enhanced performance compared to a benchtop reader with standard LAMP conditions.”

Ozcan labs shows no signs of slowing down their development of mobile POC diagnostic devices. The development of these smartphone-based tools may provide unique and much-needed equipment for clinical pathologists given the rising interest in mobile healthcare worldwide.

Amanda Warren

Related Information:

UCLA Researchers Make DNA Detection Portable, Affordable Using Cellphones

Mobile Phones Create New Opportunities for Microbiology Research and Clinical Applications

Highly Stable and Sensitive Nucleic Acid Amplification and Cell-Phone-Based Readout

Cellphone System Makes DNA Detection Affordable and Portable

UCLA Device Enables Diagnosis of Antimicrobial Resistance in Any Setting; Could Save Lives Lost to Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria

UCLA Researchers Develop Lens-Free Smartphone Microscope, Pathologists May Be Able to Take the Clinical Pathology Laboratory Just About Anywhere

Smartphone “Dongle” Achieves Capabilities of Big Clinical Laboratory Analyzers: Diagnoses Three Diseases at Once from Single Drop of Blood

New Fast, Inexpensive, Mobile Device Accurately Identifies Healthcare-Acquired Infections and Communicates Findings to Doctors’ Smartphones and Portable Computers

Pathologists and Researchers Predict Development Trajectory for Biomarker-based Molecular Diagnostics in Support of Translational Medicine

Tiny, Simple-to-Use Lensless Microscope Might Soon Find a Place in Pathology

Collaboration between Pathologists, Medical Laboratories, and Hospital Staff Substantially Reduced Hospital-Acquired Infections, AHRQ Reports

Decline in hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) overall since 2010 attributed to increased attention to safety protocols and practices by hospital staff in cooperation with clinical laboratory services

It’s now been almost nine years since the Medicare Program stopped paying hospitals and other providers for certain hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). Included in this list are hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). The goal is to substantially reduce the number of HACs and HAIs, thus improving patient outcomes, while substantially reducing the healthcare costs associated with these conditions.

So, almost nine years into these programs, has there been progress on these goals? This is a question of key interest to Medical laboratories and pathology groups because they have a front-line role in working with clinicians to diagnose and treat HAIs, while also looking to identify the transmission of HAIs within the hospital.

A recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a division of the US Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), indicates that there has been progress in the goal of reducing HACs. The AHRQ report noted a 21% decline in HACs between 2010 and 2015. Data collected during that time indicates a reduction of more than 3.1 million HACs and nearly 125,000 patient deaths due to HACs.

In 2015 alone, nearly one million fewer HAC incidents occurred. The reduction saved “approximately $28 billion in healthcare costs,” an outcome which, the AHRQ report notes, is the result of increased attention to safety protocols in hospitals and a “period of concerted effort by hospitals throughout the country to reduce adverse events.”

Clinical Pathologists/Laboratories Play Key Role in HAI Prevention

Though many reported incidents are associated with adverse drug events, HAIs have been significantly reduced in recent years due to focused efforts on infection prevention. The report notes that clinical pathologists have become vital players in infection prevention programs, and that increased coordination between hospital medical laboratories and clinicians played a crucial role in the reduction.

Eileen O’Rourke is an Infection Preventionist at the Lankenau Medical Center in Philadelphia. And she has served as a leader and consultant for hospital-based infection prevention programs in Pennsylvania since 1984. In an article on the Wolters Kluwer Pharmacy OneSource blog, O’Rourke noted that successful infection prevention and control requires development of “a highly visible and administratively supported infection prevention and control program with qualified and trained personnel.” Clinical pathologists are part of that support team, providing surveillance, testing, and interpretation of data essential for identifying epidemiological origins of infection and pathogen distribution. And the vital services that clinical laboratories provide to reduce HAIs center on surveillance, prevention, and control.

The chart above was calculated on US Dollars in 2012. Since then, thanks to contributions by medical laboratories and pathologists in collaboration with hospitals, those costs have decreased significantly. (Image copyright: MLive.com.)

In an article for Lab Testing Matters, John Daly MD, Chief Medical Officer at the Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation, and former Director of Clinical Laboratories for the Duke University Health System, highlights the importance of surveillance. He states that it is “an essential element of an infection control program” providing “data to identify infected patients and determine the site of infection” as well as “factors that contributed to the infection.” Medical laboratories must, Daly stresses, provide “easy access to high-quality and timely data and give guidance and support on how to use its resources for epidemiologic purposes.”

Daly argues that medical laboratories function as liaisons to clinical services, working to “improve the quality of specimens sent to the laboratory and promoting appropriate use of cultures and other laboratory tests.” The laboratory should, according to Daly, be involved in all aspects of the infection control programs. This ensures:

  • Proper specimen collection;
  • Accurate and rapid testing; and
  • Accurate reporting of laboratory data.

Laboratory Data Provide ‘Early Warning’ for HAI Surveillance Systems

Robert A. Weinstein, MD, wrote in his 1978 article, “The Role of the Microbiology Laboratory in Surveillance and Control of Nosocomial Infections,” that medical laboratories and pathologists are central to prevention and control of HAIs. Laboratory records, Weinstein remarked, serve as important data sources that can identify early spread of infection, thus becoming an “early warning system” for a potential outbreak of infections. The sampling that laboratories perform identifies not only the strain of infection, but the method by which infection is spread, and the best treatment options. Nearly 40 years later his statements ring truer than ever, as anatomic pathology laboratory data continues to reveal patterns of infection faster and more precisely than ever before.

Sarah Mahoney, PhD, is a research scientist at Navitor Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Mass. In an article published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology, she states that in surveilling patterns of infection, pathologists also decipher the source of infection. Mahoney wrote that it is “necessary to identify the causative organism” for surveillance and management control of HAIs. She also noted that pathologists must strive to discriminate between “hospital- and community-acquired infection” in order to provide clinicians with guidance for treatment, and to map “infection transmission within a clinical setting.”

Hospitals Rely on Medical Laboratories and Pathologists to Help Reduce HAIs 

The concerted effort to reduce HACs and HAIs was inspired by incentives put forth by the US government. In 2008-2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ceased paying for hospital-acquired conditions, including HAIs. Since that time, hospitals have worked to prevent and better manage HAIs. In the years since those incentives went into effect, hospitals have increasingly relied on medical laboratories and pathologists to provide necessary testing to prevent HAIs.

The CDC’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs create a further need for lab professionals to be involved in the identification, prevention, and treatment of HAIs. The core elements of the program state that the role of diagnostic laboratory testing—especially rapid diagnostic tests—is imperative in providing the necessary data needed to combat HAIs. The pressure is on for hospitals to reduce HAIs further to save lives and reduce costs. Thus, there is increased pressure on medical laboratories as well.

In an article in the College of American Pathologists’ online journal Cap Today,

Larry Massie, MD, Professor of Pathology at the University of New Mexico, and Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine for the New Mexico VA Health Care System in Albuquerque, states that turn-around time is crucial for HAIs, but that laboratories often have difficulty keeping up with large volumes of samples. Massie suggests the use of new technologies could speed up turnaround time, particular for large healthcare providers.

The fight to reduce HAIs and HACs is showing significant progress, and clinical laboratories, working in tandem with clinicians and prevention programs, are a fundamental part of the success of HAI reduction. Clinical pathologists and laboratories often are the front line in prevention and management of HAIs, and the work they do in identifying infections is essential in the assessment and control of those infections.

Amanda Warren

  

Related Information:

National Scorecard on Rates of Hospital-Acquired Conditions 2010 to 2015: Interim Data from National Efforts to Make Health Care Safer

How Hospitals Can Reduce Hospital-Acquired Infections

HAI Data and Statistics

Hospital Acquired Infection: Molecular Study and Infection Control Guidelines

Rapid Sequencing and Characterization of Pathogens in Hospital-Acquired Infections

The Role of the Microbiology Laboratory in Surveillance and Control of Nosocomial Infections

Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Program

Pressure’s on to Halt Nosocomial Infections

Hospital Acquired Infections

Surveillance of Hospital-acquired Infections: A Model for Settings with Resource Constraints

The Laboratory and Infection Control

Role of the Microbiologist in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

Study Finds Occupying Hospital Bed Previously Used by Patient Receiving Antibiotics Increases Odds of Developing C.diff Infection

Success of Harvard Pilgrim Value-Based Pharma Contracts Might Indicate a Transition Away from Fee-for-Service to Value-Based Care in Other Healthcare Areas

New value-based healthcare payment models could have far-reaching effects on medical laboratories and the testing they provide

Hospitals, physicians, and medical laboratories recognize the transition from “volume to value” that’s underway in the American healthcare system. Fee-for-service payments for clinical services (regardless of whether they are needed or effective) will soon cease and providers will be increasingly paid on how much value they deliver to patient care. This will fundamentally alter the complete care continuum, from hospital stays to pathology consults to clinical laboratory testing services.

One such change involves value-based drug contracts with pharmaceutical manufacturers. According to an article in The Boston Globe, in an effort to reduce the ever-increasing cost of prescription drugs while still “giving patients access to costly treatments,” Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (Harvard Pilgrim)—one of Massachusetts’ largest health insurers with more than 1.3 million members—is negotiating value-based agreements with major pharmaceutical manufacturers. How much money Harvard Pilgrim pays for certain drugs will depend on how much the healthcare organization contributes to curing/improving their patients’ conditions.

Value-Based Pharmaceutical Agreements

Harvard Pilgrim first made news for their value-based drug contracts in 2015 when they contracted with three companies:

Harvard Pilgrim currently has 12 value-based pricing contracts with pharmaceutical companies.  According to a news release, the contracts enable Harvard Pilgrim to monitor “specific criteria in patients following discharge” for the effectiveness of medication. “If the medicines fail to meet the agreed upon outcomes criteria in real patients, Harvard Pilgrim will be charged a lower amount,” the news release states.

a majority of health plans are interested in forming outcomes-based contracts with biopharmaceutical manufacturers

The graph above is from an analysis by Avalere Health, a strategic advisory company in Washington, DC, that develops solutions for healthcare. It shows how, according to Avalere, “a majority of health plans are interested in forming outcomes-based contracts with biopharmaceutical manufacturers that tie product reimbursement to patient outcomes.” (Image copyright: Avalere Health.)

These contracts link a drug’s cost to its overall effectiveness in ways that make companies accountable for results in terms of real-world patient outcomes, rather than controlled trial results. Michael Sherman, MD, Harvard Pilgrim’s Chief Medical Officer and SVP of Health Services, stated in the news release that they put drug companies “at risk for delivering” on their promises.

According to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care President and CEO Eric Schultz, value-based agreements between insurance, hospitals, medical laboratories, and drug companies are becoming increasingly important. At the 2017 America’s Health Service Plans (AHIP) Institute and Expo, Schultz stated that in terms of value-based contracting, “right now, it’s all about clinical outcomes,” a FierceHealthcare article covering the event noted. Shultz believes this is a good thing for patients that could positively impact all areas of healthcare.

Harvard Pilgrim is not alone in shifting to value-based healthcare (AKA, value-based purchasing and Pay-for-Performance). According to a news release, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Health Plan recently created the Center for Value-Based Purchasing for Pharmaceuticals. According to William Shrank, MD, UPMC Health Plan’s Chief Medical Officer, the Center is determined to evaluate outcomes and effects of the new payment models, which have the potential to “rapidly influence pharmaceutical purchasing nationwide and promote greater value in medication use.”

Can Medical Laboratories Participate in Value-based Models?

The rise of value-based healthcare models affects more than just pharmaceutical companies; medical laboratories nationwide are considering how value-based systems might affect their work and mission as well. In an Orchard Software whitepaper titled, “The Value of the Laboratory in the New Healthcare Model,” Daniel J. Scully, CEO of New York’s Buffalo Medical Group, stated that the “50-million dollar” question for laboratories is “does the laboratory offer enough value in service and speed of results” for the new value-based healthcare models?

Clinical laboratories play such a vital role in healthcare quality—providing accurate diagnosing and crucial monitoring, as well as data collection and risk assessment—they may find themselves affected by value-based healthcare changes. Because of the high costs of equipment and testing, laboratories may also find themselves scrambling to eliminate costs and improve on efficiency, by monitoring resources and testing outcomes in connection to patient needs.

Clinical pathologists may also find themselves more frequently called upon to assist in guiding clinicians to more “effectively utilize lab services to achieve better care,” according to the Orchard Software white paper.

Clinical Associations Say Medical Laboratories Crucial to Success of Value-based Healthcare

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the American Society for Clinical Pathologists (ASCP) have both addressed what the change to a value-based healthcare system may mean for clinical pathologists.

An ASCP white paper states that clinical pathology data has become increasingly important as “clinical laboratory data are now used to measure provider performance, both individual and organizational, as well as to inform value-based purchasing that optimizes healthcare resources and decreases costs.”

In a position statement, the AACC noted that laboratory testing was crucial to this new model, and that “laboratory professionals are uniquely positioned” to help increase value within healthcare by helping “clinicians identify the most effective testing protocol and interpret the results accurately. Clinical laboratorians can further reduce healthcare costs by developing new, more precise tests to personalize patient care and creating computerized clinical decision support interventions to aid test selection.” Some types of testing, however, particularly expensive molecular and genetic testing, may end up a target of similar value-based agreements between the labs that perform these tests and the provider organizations that use the tests.

Much of the focus on value-based healthcare is currently on value-based pharmaceutical contracts, such as those from Harvard Pilgrim. Nevertheless, clinical laboratories will likely play vital roles in providing care, guiding testing, and evaluating care outcomes under these new payment models. They also could find themselves part of a larger debate concerning overuse of testing or data collection.

Changes to healthcare from pay-for-service to pay-for-value will undoubtedly have far-reaching effects as healthcare fields attempt to cut costs while providing better services. Every clinical laboratory must be proactive in finding its place in these new models.

Amanda Warren

Related Information:

Harvard Pilgrim Expands Use of Novel Drug Purchasing Deals

Value for Consumer Drugs—Harvard Pilgrim Leads the Way

Harvard Pilgrim Signs Outcomes-Based Contracts with AstraZeneca for Brilinta and Bydureon

UPMC Health Plan Establishes Unprecedented Center for Value-Based Purchasing for Pharmaceuticals

Harvard Pilgrim Signs Second Groundbreaking Contract with Amgen for Repatha

Lilly’s Trulicity Joins Pay-for-performance Trend with Harvard Pilgrim Deal

Advancing Value-Based Healthcare: Laboratory Medicine’s Essential Role

The Value of the Laboratory in the New Healthcare Model

AHIP 2017: Harvard Pilgrim, Eli Lilly CEOs Talk Drug Prices and Paying for Value

Health Insurers Go All in on Value-based Drug Pricing

Health Plans Are Interested in Tying Drug Payments to Patient Outcomes

Harvard Pilgrim Bets on Value-based Drug Payments with New Deals

Harvard Pilgrim to Pay for 2 Autoimmune Drugs Based on Outcomes, Value

Value-based Contracts Key to Solving U.S. Drug Pricing ‘Crisis’

Nearly One-Third of Traditional Medicare Payments Now Based on Value-Based Reimbursement and Alternative Payment Models

Ongoing Growth in Volume of Clinical Laboratory Tests That Support Precision Medicine Due to Physician Acceptance; Payers Still Have Concerns

Pathologists and Clinical Lab Executives Take Note: Medicare Has New Goals and Deadlines for Transitioning from Fee-For-Service Healthcare Models to Value-Based Reimbursement

Up to 50% of Aetna, UnitedHealth Group, and Anthem Reimbursements Go to Value-Based Contracts; Clinical Laboratories Must Implement Value-Based Strategies to Remain Competitive

From Micro-hospitals to Mobile ERs: New Models of Healthcare Create Challenges and Opportunities for Pathologists and Medical Laboratories

New low-cost alternatives to emergency department and hospital visits could require flexibility from pathology groups and clinical laboratories to provide the best quality care

In response to the rising cost of conventional hospital services, innovative healthcare models such as micro-hospitals, bedless hospitals, and mobile and freestanding emergency rooms (ERs), are attempting to lower costs while maintaining quality of care by providing alternatives to traditional ER visits and hospital stays.

This means new challenges and opportunities for pathology groups and medical laboratories that can adapt to the different needs of these new healthcare delivery models. Each different care model will want clinical lab testing services and the reporting of lab test results to be handled in ways that enable these providers to achieve improved patient outcomes.  (more…)

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