Jan 29, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Big data is poised to change the healthcare ecosystem and that creates opportunities for forward-looking medical laboratories
First-mover academic center, Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC), is taking steps to incorporate “big data” into the daily patient-care setting. For the medical laboratory industry, this is a signal event because a major component of healthcare big data will be patient genetic and molecular information.
Included on MSMC’s big data team are its genetics laboratory experts. These are high-profile “data scientists” who help doctors make personalized predictions about their patients. This project shows how integrated healthcare informatics—including clinical laboratory test data—will be a key attribute of healthcare moving forward.
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Jul 10, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
High Co-pays for Lab Tests May Create a Collection Nightmare for Clinical Laboratories
As new facts about the prices of premiums and the amount of patient co-pays for California’s health information exchange—called Covered California—are published, the news is not likely to be favorable for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups in the Golden State.
Of particular note is that Covered California has published a requirement that patients will be charged a $35 co-pay for medical laboratory testing. Some lab industry executives have pointed out that it will be a challenge to collect these co-pays. They expect labs will incur higher costs attempting to collect these co-pays while at the same time seeing a substantial increase in levels of bad debt. However, all of this will not happen until 2014, when Covered California begins providing health insurance coverage.
For one category of insured beneficiaries, there is a bit of good news. Insurance exchange premiums for individuals not covered by employer health plans will be lower than previously expected. Covered California will charge, on average, $321 per month on average for the “Silver,” medium-tier plan, noted Peter V. Lee, Executive Director of Covered California, in a report published by the Wall Street Journal. (more…)
Mar 29, 2013 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical laboratory and pathology data from the two of the state’s largest hospital systems will soon be available to providers using the CliniSynch HIE
Ohio’s statewide health information exchange (HIE) is gaining two prominent new members and both are located in the Cleveland metropolitan area. Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals (UH)—two of the Ohio’s largest health systems—announced plans to connect to CliniSync Ohio’s statewide HIE.
Among other things, this will bolster the amount of clinical laboratory test data that can be accessed through the CliniSync HIE. That’s because both the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals operate sizeable medical laboratories that serve large populations of patients in Cleveland and the surrounding region. (more…)
Jan 11, 2013 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations
State and federal investigations into possible antitrust violations arising from provider consolidation could have implications for the nation’s independent medical laboratories
Physician-practice acquisition deals are drawing increased scrutiny from federal and state investigators concerned about possible antitrust violations. Because ownership of medical groups can play a role in how the owners decide on a medical laboratory testing provider, these anti-trust reviews could inhibit concentration of ownership by large hospitals or health systems.
Hospitals, private equity firms, and even health insurers are racing to buy up independent physician practices. At the same time, physicians are open to selling their medical practice and working as employees after the sale is completed. (more…)
Jul 23, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
New database of diabetes patients opens door for pathologists to improve existing medical laboratory testing algorithms
Integration of healthcare informatics is proceeding at a brisk pace. The latest evidence comes from 11 highly-respected integrated health systems that are pooling data to create the largest, most comprehensive private-sector diabetes registry in the country. It will contain information from 1.1 million diabetic patients.
For clinical laboratory managers and pathologists, this “super diabetes database” demonstrates that many multi-hospital health systems are now willing to pool patient data to make it easier to identify clinical trends. This data will also be used to develop more sophisticated evidence-based medicine (EBM) guidelines—many of which will involve better utilization of medical laboratory tests.
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