Mar 12, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Management & Operations
Pathologists may be surprised to learn that the nation’s highest-cost markets for health insurance include Colorado ski resorts and rural regions
What do the 10 most expensive U.S. health insurance markets have in common? According to a story published by Kaiser Health News, the 10 highest-priced markets are characterized by lack of competition among doctors, hospitals and insurers.
That will probably not be a surprise to most clinical laboratory managers and pathologists, particularly if they work for a health system that has lots of market clout in their community. That’s because concentration of market share by just a few powerful hospitals or health systems is associated with higher prices for healthcare. However, there are exceptions. (more…)
Mar 3, 2014 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Study by Kaiser Health News and NPR shows that Minnesota, Northwestern Pennsylvania, and Tucson, Arizona are among the least expensive health insurance markets in the United States
Are you lucky to live in one of the nation’s 10 lowest-cost markets for health insurance? Researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation published a study that identifies the 10 regional markets in the United States where health insurance costs are the cheapest.
Pathology groups and medical laboratories serving these 10 regions are thus probably getting paid less fee-for-service reimbursement than in other more expensive regions of the United States. The study shows how variable the cost of the same healthcare insurance plan can be from one city to the next across the nation. (more…)
Feb 21, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Medicare officials continue to work toward improved transparency in provider outcomes
Medicare officials are making progress in their efforts to help patients “shop” for doctors, including pathologists. It has gone live with a new website called “Physician Compare.” This website offers many search functions not previously available.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) put up the new website to fulfill one mandate of the healthcare reform law, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010. CMS expanded the information available to healthcare consumers on its online physician directory tool. (more…)
Jul 12, 2010 | Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
New Federal Mandate Will Make ACO-Based Provider Networks Responsible for Improving Quality and Cutting Costs
Pathologists and clinical laboratories are positioned to benefit from the provision in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that is intended to reduce the cost of healthcare. It is the provision which authorizes the use of “accountable care organizations” (ACOs) and will be triggered in 2012.
Accountable care organizations are not yet a well-defined concept. ACOs are recognized to have some basic characteristics. First, an ACO is an integrated care network of providers with the ability to provide care to, and manage patients, across the continuum of care that should include different institutional settings, such as ambulatory care, inpatient hospital care, and even post-acute care.
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Feb 24, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
In recent years, Newfoundland pathology lab’s errors involving breast cancer testing made headlines
Once again, Newfoundland finds itself in the headlines about healthcare. This time it is not about breast cancer testing problems in its pathology laboratories. Instead, media reports are trumpeting the disclosure that Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams had quietly left the country earlier this month to undergo major heart surgery in the United States.
Danny Williams’ decision caused negative reactions among the press and commentators in the United States and Canada. After all, why would a senior elected official from Newfoundland decide to leave Canada, which has national health insurance, and seek care in the U.S., where the Congress is debating the merits of a national health insurance plan? It was disclosed that Williams underwent a major heart procedure on Thursday, February 4, at an undisclosed hospital in Florida.
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