News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel
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Attention Pathologists! MD Anderson and UnitedHealthcare Ink Bundled Payment Agreement for Cancer Care

May 1, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement

If bundled payment becomes more common in treatment of cancer, then anatomic pathologists need a strategy to demonstrate their clinical value to physicians and payers

MD Anderson Cancer Center and UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH) announced a bundled payment agreement for the treatment of certain types of cancer. This development has implications for anatomic pathologist who provide cancer testing services to hospitals throughout the United States.

The new three-year pilot at MD Anderson’s Head and Neck Center in Houston, Texas, is the first use of a bundled payment model in a large, comprehensive cancer center. Officials say it is expected to lower costs while improving the quality of patient care and outcomes. As many as 150 patients with head and neck cancer who are enrolled in employer-sponsored UnitedHealthcare (UHC) plans will participate in the pilot.

“For the last five years, MD Anderson and its Institute for Cancer Care Innovation have been looking at how to best approach a single price for treating cancers. It is a complex question because cancer is a complex disease and each patient unique,” stated Thomas W. Feeley, M.D., Head of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, and Head of the Institute, in an MD Anderson news release. “Bundled pricing is something that patients and care providers want, and this is our first opportunity to better understand how we can manage costs without sacrificing quality care and patient outcomes.” (more…)

CDC Reports that Hospital Improvement Programs Cut ICU Infection Rate by 58%

Jun 6, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology

Clinical pathology laboratory testing played a role in reducing rate of ICU infections

Here’s a big win for improved patient outcomes, and clinical labs and pathologists played a significant role in this achievement. Central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) in ICUs decreased in number by a whopping 58% from 2001 to 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Some healthcare experts attribute this significant reduction in ICU infections to greater transparency in outcomes data. The CDC’s report, released on March 1, 2011, covered the period from 2001 through 2009. The CDC said that, in 2001, 43,000 ICU patients experienced what today is called a hospital acquired infection (HAI). But by 2009, that number had dropped to 18,000!

The CDC calculates that, thanks to hospital diligence and participation in programs designed to reduce HAIs, at least $1.8 billion and 27,000 lives were saved between 2001 and 2009. However, the CDC noted that other areas of healthcare did not show similar improvements in patient outcomes. (more…)

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