May 28, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory News, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Giving physicians Information on the price of medical laboratory tests at the time of order decreased overall use of such tests by about 9%, researchers said.
Physicians order fewer clinical laboratory tests when they know how much they cost, according to a recent study at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.Those findings are good news for hospital-based pathologists who must often respond to physicians who order expensive esoteric tests that are inappropriate for the patient’s condition or lack documentation as to clinical utility.
The study results show another dimension to the power of transparent pricing in healthcare because it demonstrates that physicians are willing to take cost into consideration when deciding what clinical laboratory tests they should order. Some experts believe that publishing price information on the costs of care empowers consumers to shop for the best price, thus helping to reduce the overall cost of healthcare.
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Dec 28, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Physicians, including pathologists, will be able to see a more holistic picture of the mechanisms of disease using sophisticated computer-generated models
Medical diagnosis and treatment will be greatly influenced by the fast-growing field of computational medicine. It is a development with the potential to significantly change how physicians use clinical laboratory tests and anatomic pathology services.
Computational medicine describes how researchers are using sophisticated software tools to map highly complex biophysical and disease pathways. This cutting-edge imaging technology enhances their ability to decipher the complex, often non-intuitive dynamics of human disease. (more…)
Aug 8, 2012 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Studies show home-based hospital acute care results in fewer medical laboratory and diagnostic tests
Home-based hospital care (HBHC) is a care delivery model that is evolving at a rapid pace. To be effective, HBHC must improve patient outcomes while avoiding the expenses associated with an inpatient stay at a hospital.
However, significant growth in the number of patients treated in home-based hospital care programs would directly affect hospital-based clinical laboratories and pathology groups. Among other things, this would reduce the volume of inpatient testing while increasing the number of outpatient/outreach specimens.
Evidence is accumulating in favor of HBHC. New research shows that a New Mexico home-based hospital care (HH) program demonstrated cost savings and equal or better patient outcomes and patient satisfaction for acutely-ill patients compared to similar patients receiving in-hospital care. These new findings affirm similar results from a 2005 study of HBHC. (more…)
Jul 6, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
New approach to clinical laboratory testing could eliminate the need for tissue biopsies to diagnose different types of cancer
In Maryland, a 15-year-old high school freshman developed a diagnostic assay that experts say can be developed into medical laboratory test for the detection of pancreatic cancer. The teen’s prize-winning breakthrough test could change how cancer and other fatal diseases are diagnosed and treated.
More to the point for anatomic pathologists, this new approach to detecting pancreatic cancer is non-invasive, so it does not require a biopsy specimen. It is also inexpensive and fast. At a cost of about $3 per test, the diagnostic assay produces a result in five minutes.
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Apr 4, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
For example, only 21 states have passed laws requiring some reporting of surgical site infections (SSI)
There is growing pressure on states to collect and report standardized, accurate data on surgical site infections (SSI) and to make that data easily accessible to patients. This renewed focus on open access to performance quality data represents another milestone in the trend toward transparency in provider outcomes and pricing for consumers.
One consequence of increased tracking and reporting of surgical site infections by hospitals is more utilization of clinical laboratory Clinical laboratory tests that are used to identify infections and help physicians monitor the progress of patients with SSIs. Pathologists and microbiologists have an important role in helping hospitals reduce the number of SSIs.
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