Mar 31, 2009 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Essential action area for clinical laboratory management and pathology management
With the American economy in a tailspin, payers and patients want to delay or avoid payment for laboratory testing services. That is not good news for clinical labs and pathology groups. It means their billing and collection departments must perform at an even more productive level just to stay even!
At the same time, during poor economic times, “cash is King!” Clinical laboratories and pathology groups can protect cash flow and increase their revenues by boosting the effectiveness of their billing/collection efforts. This is a proven management strategy. In response to the glum economic news of recent months, proactive clinical lab directors and pathologists have begun devoting more attention and resources to their laboratory’s billing and collection department.
A variety of experts in laboratory coding, billing and collections have been tapped to share their expertise at the upcoming 14th Annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management . It takes place on April 28-29, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. These experts can help you take your lab’s coding/billing/collection performance to the next highest level. That means more cash flow and increased revenue just when it is most needed by your laboratory.
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Jan 20, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
If there is one healthcare trend that will be truly disruptive to pathologists, it is personalized medicine. The concept behind personalized medicine is simple: understand the genetic and metabolic differences unique to the individual patient. Then use this knowledge to tailor a custom program of therapy, including prescription drugs, that offers the maximum potential for success while minimizing possible side affects.
Personalized medicine is closely linked to the emerging field of companion diagnostics. In combination, these two new ideas have the potential to revolutionize how laboratory testing services are used in developed healthcare systems. For one thing, clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups-traditionally the “go to” source for information to drive diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic decisions-will have serious competitors in the world of personalized medicine and companion diagnostics.
One keen observer of the personalized medicine trend is Bruce Friedman, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his popular LabSoft news blog, he defined companion diagnostics in this manner:
Briefly stated, [companion diagnostics] is a strategy pursued by some IVD companies, Roche Diagnostics in particular, whereby the company develops a gatekeeper biomarker assay. This is a lab test that serves to qualify a patient for treatment with a particular drug. The most common example of such a test is the HER-2/neu assay that is required prior to treatment with Herceptin.
Friedman, like your Dark Daily editor, recognizes that advances in genetic science and molecular technologies are making it possible for other medical specialties to crowd into the diagnostic field. He believes that the current, commonly-used definition of companion diagnostics-as primarily measurement by use of serum biomarkers-is outdated. He thinks the definition should be widened, writing in his blog that: “I personally have begun to routinely assume that diagnostics, unless otherwise qualified, should be more broadly defined to include both the analysis of serum and tissue biomarkers as well as medical imaging procedures. I have posted a number of notes about molecular imaging, which is defined in the following way in the Wikipedia:
[Molecular imaging] differs from traditional imaging in that probes known as biomarkers are used to help image various targets or pathways, particularly. Biomarkers interact chemically with their surroundings and in turn alter the image according to the molecular changes occurring within the area of interest. This is markedly different from previous methods of imaging which primarily imaged differences in qualities such as densities or water content.”
Friedman continues, saying: “I think that we now need to broaden our definition of companion diagnostics to include both the measurement of serum/tissue biomarkers as well as medical imaging and particularly molecular imaging. Such an approach also echoes my belief, expressed in a number of previous notes, that pathology, lab medicine, and radiology are becoming much more closely aligned and should now merge into a new discipline of diagnostic medicine. This broader definition for companion diagnostics also suggests that Roche, GE, and Siemens are embarking on very similar strategy in the pursuit of personalized medicine.”
All pathologists and radiologists should track this trend, which is poised to disrupt long-standing practices in their respective medical specialties. Friedman will speak on this topic at the upcoming Molecular Summit on the Integration of In Vivo and In Vitro Diagnostics in Philadelphia on February 10-11, 2009. Location is the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Joining Friedman is a faculty of 27 other leading national and international experts in molecular imaging, molecular diagnostics, and healthcare informatics.
Speakers from such organizations as Massachusetts General Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, MD Anderson Medical Center, UCLA Medical Center, Siemens, and the Institute for Systems Biology will provide the latest innovations in the integration of in vivo and in vitro diagnostics. Last year’s Molecular Summit attracted 225 attendees, along with editors and reporters from 15 healthcare publications. This upcoming Molecular Summit has compelling case studies of how molecular diagnostics, when integrated with molecular imaging and other data sets, is giving clinicians powerful new insights for making diagnoses, identifying appropriate therapies, and monitoring patient progress.
Register today and guarantee your place at this important event for pathology and radiology! The full agenda and speaker line-up for Molecular Summit 2009 on February 10-11 can be viewed here (or paste this URL into your browser: http://www.molecular-summit.com/program.htm )
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Oct 4, 2006 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
It was major news yesterday when the public learned that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated had awarded an exclusive, 10-year national contract for laboratory testing services to Laboratory Corporation of America. UnitedHealth is the nation’s second largest health insurance company, with approximately 26 million beneficiaries. LabCorp says it should see an additional $3 billion in revenue during the 10-year term of its pact with UnitedHealth.
This new contract takes effect on January 1, 2007. After that date, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated ceases to be a contract provider of laboratory services to UnitedHealth beneficiaries, with a few exceptions. Quest Diagnostics acknowledges that its UnitedHealth book of business represents 7% of total revenues, or about $385 million per year. That business is now at risk, for a number of reasons.
What is big news for LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics is likely to be a “ho hum” for most other laboratories. That’s because they are already excluded from lab testing contracts with UnitedHealth. What may be of more immediate impact to hospital lab outreach programs and independent laboratory companies is the fact that LabCorp will be developing contract networks for UnitedHealth in selected regions around the United States. Depending on the prices and terms of such contract networks, local labs may find it advantageous to participate to gain access to UnitedHealth beneficiaries.
As to the two blood brothers, Dark Daily predicts the capture of UnitedHealth’s business by LabCorp will intensify competition between the two billion-dollar behemoths. Quest Diagnostics will not lie down and cede the UnitedHealth business to LabCorp. Nor will LabCorp be anything but aggressive about exploiting this opportunity. From this perspective, news that LabCorp has been granted an exclusive, 10-year lab testing services contract with UnitedHealth Group is just the first round. Stay tuned, because the battle is about to get nasty. Check out coming issues of The Dark Report for additional intelligence about this tectonic shift in national lab contracts.
