Sep 21, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Nation’s most experienced lab operations managers, cost-cutters, and Lean experts will gather to share successes and proven ideas at Lab Quality Confab on October 18-19, 2016
Most hospitals and health systems are in the first stages of developing their budgets for 2017. Clinical laboratory administrators and pathologists at these institutions report three common factors are driving the next budget cycle: falling reimbursement, flat or declining inpatient admissions, and directives to cut their lab budgets.
“At our health system, the challenge is a bit different,” said one lab administrator at a large Midwest hospital. “Inpatient volumes are increasing, but we get less money from health insurers per admission. For that reason, our budget planning requirement is to accept a smaller budget than last year, while planning to handle more specimen volume in 2017, compared to this year.” (more…)
Nov 6, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Pathology
Nation’s largest gathering of clinical laboratory Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement practitioners took place in New Orleans this week
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA—More than 300 of the nation’s leading quality improvement practitioners in clinical laboratory operations came together this week to share, learn, and master the best approaches to improving the quality of medical laboratory operations in ways that improve performance and productivity even while delivering substantial reductions in cost.
The opening session of the Ninth Annual Laboratory Quality Confab featured three clinical laboratories that have aggressively used quality management methods, including Lean and Six Sigma. These are labs that are strategically committed to creating and sustaining a culture of quality and continuous process improvement. (more…)
Apr 20, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Experts say that CLIA inspections are becoming more rigorous, with inspectors taking more interest in how medical labs comply in the areas of personnel, PT, and quality control
Recent reports indicate that regulatory inspections of clinical laboratories are getting tougher. Some pathologists and medical lab managers acknowledge that they’ve had to scramble in response to the unexpected deficiencies identified by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) inspectors following inspections of their labs.
These developments make it more important than ever that clinical laboratories work to become “inspection ready.” At the same time, it is essential that every laboratory compliance officer stay up to date with changes in how CLIA and other regulatory inspections are conducted.
Unwelcome Publicity When Medical Lab Regulators Find Deficiencies
There’s another factor at play in this unfolding story. News headlines immediately follow when federal and state lab regulators discover a problem with a laboratory and the quality of the test results that it is reporting. This raises the stakes for every lab director, because even highly respected medical laboratory organizations can find themselves at the center of unwelcome attention when the public becomes aware of inspection deficiencies. (more…)
Oct 24, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
‘Best of class’ clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups shared case studies in effective cost-cutting and steps they are taking to add value to lab testing services
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA—Here in the Crescent City this week, almost 300 clinical laboratory managers and pathologists gathered to learn and master the latest innovations in managing cost in medical laboratories, while introducing high-value medical laboratory testing services that help physicians deliver better outcomes for their patients.
This is not an easy tightrope to walk for clinical lab leaders. Across the United States, most medical labs and pathology groups are dealing with shrinking budgets and falling prices for lab testing. This means less money to perform the same or growing volume of patient specimens arriving daily at their labs. (more…)
Sep 8, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Blame it on shrinking hospital budgets and reduced lab testing prices; successful labs are using Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement to reduce expenses and boost quality
Topic number one at clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups across the nation is cost-cutting, for two reasons. First, it is budget time at hospitals and labs are being told to aggressively reduce their costs in 2015. Second, health insurers are paying less for medical lab testing.
Simply said, labs are experiencing one of the toughest financial squeezes in two decades. Dark Daily has written about the underlying trends responsible for this financial pressure. Nationally, hospital inpatient admissions are down at the same time that hospitals are being paid less per inpatient. In response, hospitals are asking all clinical departments—including their clinical laboratories—to prune staff and cut budgets for 2015. (more…)
