May 11, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Pathology
AMA opposition to ICD-10 deadline moves HHS to reconsider, while leaving some transition-ready providers rankled
When it comes to implementation of ICD-10 in the United States, the “do it later” crowd seems to have convinced the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the need to once again move back the compliance date for ICD-10. On April 9, HHS announced a proposed rule to defer implementation by one year, with a new effective date of October 1, 2014.
Clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups have a big stake in a successful transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Among other reasons, Medicare Part B claims for medical laboratory tests must be submitted with an appropriate ICD code [provided by the physician who ordered the lab tests] for the clinical lab or pathology group to be paid by the Medicare program.
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Mar 21, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathology groups and medical labs see lab hubs as a way to reduce to cost to interface with EMRs and HIEs
It’s no secret that clinical laboratories and pathology groups are being asked to interface their laboratory information systems (LIS) to the electronic medical record (EMR) systems of office-based physicians and other types of providers. Blame it on HITECH, Meaningful Use, and the substantial monetary incentives offered by the federal government.
Right now, tens of thousands of doctors across the United States are at some stage of purchasing and implementing an EMR system within their medical practice. “Each time a medical clinic adopts an EMR, you can bet that one of the first things the physicians do is to request that their clinical lab provider electronically transmit laboratory test results directly into their patients’ records within the EMR,” observed Charles Halfpenny.
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Mar 20, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Optical character recognition is improving, making it easier for medical laboratories to scan paper documents and convert that data into digital information
Endless flows of paper are the curse of clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups everywhere. Few medical laboratory organizations in the United States have successfully transitioned to a fully paperless environment.
But there is good news for pathologists and clinical lab managers who feel overwhelmed by the daily flood of paper test requisitions and other documents that flow into their labs every day. Several active trends hold the potential to allow more medical laboratories to eliminate all paper and achieve a true digital working environment.
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Dec 20, 2011 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Recent reports show why labs need more robust laboratory information systems (LIS), including a shrinking workforce, new requirements to connect to EMRs in hospitals and physicians’ offices, and the development of health information exchanges.
Clinical laboratories nationwide are realizing they need new and more powerful laboratory information systems (LIS) as they seek to process larger volumes of medical laboratory tests with a shrinking number of medical technologists and clinical laboratory scientists.
In response to the critical shortages of MTs, CLSs, and other laboratory scientists, most clinical laboratories are beefing up automation in all areas of the lab. From the high-volume core chemistry/hematology laboratory to microbiology and histology, laboratory automation systems are becoming ubiquitous. But all this lab automation increases the need to use information technologies to manage both automation and the flow of specimens through the laboratory.
A report published earlier this year by Kalorama Information of Rockville, Maryland, actually links the shortage of skilled medical laboratory staff as one of the most important factors in fostering growth in the LIS market. Researchers estimated the size of the LIS market at $800 million and predicted that it would grow about 6% annually for the next few years.
As pathologists and clinical laboratory managers know, labor accounts for more than 60% of the cost of producing medical laboratory test results. The Kalorama report stated that laboratory automation and better information management systems can reduce the number of manual procedures and tasks in the typical medical laboratory, In turn, this helps optimize labor efficiency, said the report titled, Laboratory Information Systems (LIS / LIMS) Markets. (more…)
Nov 30, 2011 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Because they provide medical lab test results to EHRs, clinical labs and pathologists are often named in medical malpractice lawsuits
Some experts predict that the great expansion in the number of physicians using electronic health record (EHR) systems may trigger an increase in medical malpractice lawsuits. Were this were to happen, clinical laboratories and pathology group practices might find themselves also named in such lawsuits because they provided the medical laboratory test results that populated the patient’s EHR.
Concern about an increase in medical malpractice claims surfaced in response to the speed at which the federal government is pushing physicians to implement and use electronic health record (EHR) systems as required under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For example, federal officials are directing hospitals to implement EHRs that fulfill the Act’s Meaningful Use (MU) requirements by 2012. (more…)
