Mar 23, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Pathology and laboratory testing services are contracted by district health boards
Dateline: Christchurch, New Zealand-After two weeks of pathology meetings and lab site visits in Australia and New Zealand, your Dark Daily editor has gained new insights about pathology and laboratory medicine in these two English-speaking countries. One notable point is that, despite the fact that both countries have universal health coverage, their pathology and clinical laboratories are under significant financial stress.
This comes from a combination of factors. Their growing (and aging) populations are utilizing laboratory tests at increased volumes. At the same time, each government health system is using a variety of laboratory contracting practices to control spending on lab testing-thus steadily squeezing down the overall reimbursement paid to laboratories. Medical training programs in both countries are failing to graduate adequate numbers of pathologists and laboratory scientists. This is particularly true in New Zealand, where some rural regions are understaffed with adequate numbers of pathologists.
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Mar 20, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Government efforts to reduce funding for lab tests may boomerang in coming years
Dateline: Christchurch, New Zealand-Here in the land of kiwis and enthusiastic rugby fans, pathology and laboratory services don’t seem to get much respect from regional health districts of the New Zealand Department of Health. There are fears that too much of this type of budget cutting will undermine the quality of laboratory testing in those communities.
In at least two major metropolitan regions of New Zealand, the regional health districts are using single-source tenders (contract bidding) for pathology and laboratory testing services as a way to drive down the price they pay for laboratory testing. One consequence of these tender efforts is an immediate reduction in the number of private pathology testing providers in these cities, since just one medical laboratory is granted an exclusive, multi-year contract to provide laboratory testing services to office-based physicians across that region.
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Mar 9, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
New demonstration project bundles Part A and Part B payments for certain clinical services
In January, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched its test drive of a proposed bundled payment concept it hopes will generate improved quality of care and cost efficiencies. The Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration project replaces fee-for-service (FFS) with global payments for orthopedic or cardiovascular inpatient procedures or both at the five participating hospitals.
A bundled payment is a single payment for both Part A and Part B Medicare services provided during a single inpatient stay. Currently, Medicare Part A pays hospitals a single predicted amount under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System for all care provided during an inpatient stay. Physicians, laboratories, and other providers with a role in a patient’s care are paid separately for services performed under Part B. (more…)
Mar 6, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Is your laboratory ready to cope with our nation’s economic turmoil? Collapse of the financial markets has already undermined hospital/health system finances. Check out this news story: “U.S. hospital profits fall to zero – Thomson Reuters,” published just days ago on March 2, 2009.
In the midst of this unprecedented economic chaos, the new president and the new Congress are declaring their intent to makeover healthcare according to their vision! Collectively, these developments threaten the financial integrity of every clinical laboratory and pathology group in the United States.
Lab administrators and pathologists need insights, strategies, and practical advice to batten down their laboratories and weather these unprecedented economic storms. You will find all this and more at the 14th annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, scheduled for April 28-29, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Mar 5, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
New York Times says: “Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself”
New President Barack Obama is not wasting any time when it comes to healthcare reform. Today, he’s convening a healthcare summit in Washington, DC. Invited are stakeholders that range from business and labor groups to providers, health insurers, and consumer groups.
In its prospective coverage of this healthcare summit yesterday, the New York Times used the headline “Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself” . The NYT reporter pointedly observed that a great distance has been maintained between Hillary Clinton and the White House on the subject of healthcare. In fact, the Secretary of State will be in Brussells, Belgium, today—thousands of miles removed from Obama’s health summit!
On the other hand, NYT reporter Sheryl Gay Stolbert observed that Obama is surrounding himself with Clinton advisors, writing “Mr. Obama is at once trying to distance himself from the baggage Mrs. Clinton carries as the architect of that plan, while demonstrating that he has learned from it. He is drawing on the experiences of a host of aides who are Clinton veterans, notably Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. But he is not relying on Mrs. Clinton herself.”
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