Jan 2, 2013 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
MGMA-ACMPE hopes survey data ultimately reduces distractions and resource diversion for physicians—including pathologists—that result from interactions with payers
When physicians and their practice managers are surveyed about their satisfaction with health insurers, the Medicare program outscores all private health insurers. This was just one finding of an annual survey on this topic conducted by Medical Group Management Association-American College of Medical Practice Executives (MGMA-ACMPE).
Certainly pathologists have their opinion about the service levels of different health insurers. However, MGMA’s survey does not break out physician satisfaction by different medical specialties. The survey findings reveal that most physicians are neutral or dissatisfied to some degree when queried about different aspects of service provided by Medicare and private health insurers. (more…)
Sep 7, 2012 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers should not be surprised to see today’s nontraditional healthcare delivery models becoming tomorrow’s industry norm
Big healthcare players are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire unexpected targets. The biggest of these deals signal that healthcare consolidation and integration is a continuing trend. It is also a reminder to clinical laboratory managers and pathologists that the competitive healthcare marketplace is transforming at a steady pace.
Three such deals emphasize that the consolidation trend is alive and well:
- Dignity Health purchased U.S. Healthworks this summer. No terms were disclosed, but some analysts estimate that the purchase price may have been more than $500 million.
- DaVita Partners, a major player in dialysis services, is to purchase Healthcare Partners for $4.4 billion. Healthcare Partners operates 150 clinics in three states, plus has a national network of 8,300 independent physicians.
- United HealthGroup, Inc., in deal announced last fall, acquired Monarch Healthcare, an independent physician association with 2,300 doctors in Southern California. Purchase price was not announced.
Acquisitions Have Potential to Reshape Competitive Landscape (more…)
Jan 27, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Experts predict employers will use this data to create “report cards” on individual physicians
In a big step forward for public access to data about provider outcomes, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will make its enormous Medicare claims database more broadly available to the public. Both the press and the public will be able to search for information about individual physicians. It is likely that information about pathologists will be searchable in this manner.
Specifically, Medicare will relax its restrictions on the release of information about individual doctors who participate in Medicare. This development was reported recently by The Wall Street Journal, which played a role in getting HHS to make physician data available to the public.
“This is a giant step forward in making our health care system more transparent,” stated Marilyn Tavenner, Medicare’s Acting Administrator. (more…)
Oct 28, 2011 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Data represents $1 trillion in spending since 2000 and contains clinical laboratory and pathology data
In what may turn out to be a positive development for clinical laboratories and pathology group practices, four of the nation’s five biggest health insurance companies will collaborate and put their medical claims data for billions of transactions into a single data base. Researchers say this database will give them an unprecedented ability to assess utilization trends and the clinical care delivered to patients covered by private health insurance.
The four health insurance companies that will provide data are:
The data provided by each of these health insurers will be submitted to the newly-created Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). This data will consist of more than five billion medical claims dating back to 2000. These claims represent more than $1 trillion in spending. The health insurers are also providing the financing required to launch HCCI. (more…)
