Jun 25, 2014 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Uncategorized
Maricopa Integrated Health System reports that price transparency pays off by reducing uncompensated care and increasing business
Arizona has a new law that requires hospitals, medical laboratories, diagnostic imaging facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, and urgent-care centers to publish the prices they charge self-pay and uninsured patients for the 50 most common inpatient and outpatient services. The law took effect on January 1, 2014.
News accounts report that just one hospital took steps to publish its prices earlier this year. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will find the experience of Maricopa Integrated Health System to be instructive, as hospital administrators there publicly state that this was the right thing to do for patients in their community. (more…)
Jul 22, 2013 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Tucson reporter travels to Sonora to get a simple clinical laboratory test and avoid hassles imposed by the U.S. healthcare system
Continuing growth in the number of Americans opting to become medical tourists shows that this trend is here to stay. The reasons behind this sustained growth sector have much to teach those clinical laboratory managers and pathologists in the United States who would like to make their medical laboratory organizations more competitive and customer-friendly.
For most products and services American consumers enjoy the lower costs and benefits provided by the generally free market in this country. But when it comes to healthcare services, many Americans are finding freer markets abroad. (more…)
Sep 2, 2011 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Web-based medical laboratory testing companies give consumers the option to purchase lab tests at cheap prices
It’s nearly impossible to do a web search for any term that includes “medical laboratory tests” and not have the search engine return paid listings for numerous clinical laboratory testing companies organized specifically to allow consumers to order their own lab tests over the Internet. This is a sign that the direct-to-consumer medical laboratory testing marketplace is booming.
These companies seem to be multiplying like rabbits. It is common to see such names as AccessaLabs.com, AnyLabTestNow.com, HealthOneLabs.com, PrePaidLabTests.com, and PrivateMDLabs.com pop up in the search engine. For a consumer looking to order their own clinical laboratory tests, these are enticing names. (more…)
Nov 23, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
News Reports Estimate as many as 25 Million Americans Would STILL Lack Coverage
With its vote on Saturday, the United States Senate advanced its version of a healthcare reform bill one step further. Now, in both the House and Senate, full floor debate will begin on the different healthcare reform bills that have reached the floor in each body.
Looming in the background, however, is the failure of each of these 2,000-page proposed bills to extend universal coverage to all residents of the United States. This is notable fact, since, over the course of 2009, advocates of an immediate legislative overhaul of the healthcare system in the United States declared their goal was to extend health coverage to all of the estimated 46 million Americans who currently lack health coverage.
(more…)
Mar 25, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
As previously suggested by earlier Dark Daily e-briefings, studies of the 46 million uninsured Americans suggest there’s more to this statistic than a big number implies. Up to two-thirds of the uninsured either qualify for government-sponsored insurance or could afford to buy coverage.
But no one disagrees that widespread layoffs and elimination of employer-sponsored health coverage are causing the ranks of the uninsured to swell. For every worker who loses health benefits, the multiplier is 3.14-the average size of the U.S. family. Thus, the loss of 3 mllion jobs over the last year translates to about 9.4 million people losing health coverage.
(more…)
