Dec 31, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists may see this research initiative—dubbed the MURDOCK Study—produce knowledge that results in new diagnostic medical lab tests
Can molecular biomarkers do for a North Carolina town what silicon chips did for California’s Silicon Valley? At least one city in the Tar Heel State hopes that it can develop into a major hub for research, development, and the commercialization of molecular science and next-generation gene sequencing.
The unlikely contender pursuing this goal is the city of Kannapolis. With a population of 43,000 and located about 25 miles northwest of Charlotte, the city fathers of Kannopolis appear to be positioning the community as an up-and-coming global center for biobanking. (more…)
Dec 8, 2014 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
College of American Pathologists and associations for family physicians and ob-gyns in Florida have asked UnitedHealthcare to discontinue implementation of BeaconLBS system
Medical laboratory testing is at the center of a contest of wills in Florida. On one side is a health insurer that wants to require physicians to obtain pre-notification or preauthorization for a list of clinical laboratory tests. On the other side are the physicians who question the clinical basis for these requirements and the time and resources required to comply with the health insurer’s program.
This rancorous dispute is in reaction to the laboratory benefit management program created by UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH) (UHC) administered by BeaconLBS, a business division of Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE: LH) (LapCorp). (more…)
Nov 5, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing, Management & Operations
With clinical laboratory acquisition candidates dwindling in number, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) (NYSE: LH) looked outside the medical laboratory industry and agreed to acquire Covance, Inc. (NYSE: CVD), a major player in clinical trials testing, for approximately $6.1 billion in cash and stock.
By taking this action, LabCorp will have bragging rights as the world’s largest laboratory testing company. Upon completion of this transaction, financial analysts point out that the two companies have combined annual revenue of $8.4 billion as of the period ending September 30, 2014. By comparison, annual revenue at Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) was $7.1 billion for year ending 2013.
Covance Involved in Clinical Trials
Covance is a contract research company in Princeton, New Jersey, with annual revenues of $2.5 billion and 12,500 employees in more than 60 countries. In February of this year, Covance sold its Covance Genomics lab in Seattle, Washington, to LabCorp, per the company’s press release. Terms of this transaction were not announced. (more…)
Oct 20, 2014 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing
Other clinical laboratory organizations responding to the RFP were Laboratory Corporation of America, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, and Mayo Clinic
Last Friday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) in Edmonton, Alberta, announced that Sonic Healthcare Limited (SHL.AX), of Sydney, Australia, has been selected as the medical laboratory testing provider to serve Edmonton and parts of central and northern Alberta. This agreement is worth $3 billion Canadian over 15 years and is believed to be the world’s biggest clinical laboratory testing contract currently out for bid.
Competition for this clinical laboratory testing contract was intense. Last April, four organizations were identified as having submitted responses to Alberta Health Service’s (AHS) request for proposals (RFP). They were: (more…)
Mar 31, 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, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations, News From Dark Daily
Failing finances at technical pathology laboratories may be the most immediate concern for many pathology group practices
Many clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups now recognize the new reality of the American healthcare system: less reimbursement for laboratory testing. On one hand, the fee-for-service prices for lab tests paid by government and private payers have been aggressively slashed.
On the other hand, all payers have become stubbornly resistant to issuing coverage guidelines and setting adequate prices for the flood of new molecular assays and gene tests coming to market.
These trends have already brought a handful of medical laboratories and pathology practices to the point of bankruptcy, sale, or closure. This is definitely true for the technical laboratories owned by many local pathology groups, which have become unprofitable due to fee cuts. (See below.) (more…)
