Jun 20, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
One problem for physicians is that many EHR products that earned Meaningful Use Stage 1 certification have not gained Stage 2 certification
Growing numbers of physicians are deciding that continuing in the federal government’s electronic health records (EHRs) incentive program is not a winning proposition. This is not an auspicious development for the nation’s clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
After all, every medical laboratory in the United States is spending time and money to interface their laboratory information systems with physician clients’ EHR systems to enable electronic lab test ordering and reporting. Thus, if substantial numbers of physicians decide to opt out the federal EHR incentive program, this will create a variety of problems for clinical laboratories providing lab-testing services to these physicians. (more…)
Mar 28, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
In particular, medical laboratories and pathology groups should be doing better at using information technology to meet the needs of consumers and to support physician workflow
Improving patient-provider communication and speeding clinician workflow are two of the top 2014 game changers in healthcare information technology (HIT) cited by a recent report. Each of these top 2014 game changers can be expected to change how patients and physicians interact with their clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology providers.
The report was published by Becker’s Hospital Review. Of the top 10 2014 HIT game changers, Dark Daily considered the two mentioned as the most notable for medical laboratory managers and pathologists. (more…)
May 8, 2013 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
With healthcare reform likely to limit their growth, health insurers are expanding into data management to create new revenue streams
Faced with swift changes in healthcare, many of which are not favorable to the traditional business model of private health insurers, the nation’s largest payers are positioning themselves to be major players in the management of “big data.” That may have interesting implications for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, which typically generate large quantities of medical laboratory test data.
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Apr 18, 2012 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Actions by major insurers indicate that ACOs operated by hospitals will have competition
Until recently, most media coverage about nascent accountable care organizations (ACOs) centered on the plans of major hospitals and health systems to organize ACOs within their communities. Now comes news that major health insurers are making sizeable investments as they prepare to launch their own ACOs.
These developments could be auspicious for local clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. It could mean that in many regions around the United States there will be ACOs operated by hospitals/health systems that compete against ACOs operated by health insurance companies. In turn, that would mean more customers for lab testing services in these cities and towns.
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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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