Dec 7, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Pathologists and clinical laboratories could help reduce error rate through greater collaboration with providers
Expect the topic of diagnostic mistakes to get more media attention in coming years. That is consistent with the efforts of healthcare policymakers to improve patient safety while making it easier for consumers to access information about the quality and cost when selecting hospitals, physicians, and medical laboratories.
One opening salvo in this campaign is a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled “Improving Diagnosis in Health Care.” It concludes that Americans will receive at least one wrong or late diagnosis in their lifetime. The rate of diagnostic errors is a patient-safety issue in which pathologists and clinical laboratories could play an important role in reducing.
Pathologists often know which physicians in their community routinely order inappropriate or wrong tests for patients. That is why pathologists could be instrumental in reducing diagnostic errors through better communication with providers to ensure doctors not only order the correct clinical laboratory tests, but also select the appropriate therapies based on test results. (more…)
May 27, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Surging enrollment in Medicare Advantage moves patients out of Medicare Part B and thus reduces the ability of regional clinical labs to have access to these Medicare beneficiaries
Smaller clinical laboratories and pathology group practices are facing an inauspicious trend. It is the fast growth of enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans that has reached record high numbers each year since 2010.
This is not a positive development because it moves Medicare Part B patients out of the fee-for-service program and shifts them into Medicare Advantage plans. These plans tend to sign contracts with the national laboratory companies, such as Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) and Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE: LH) because of their lower lab test prices while excluding most local medical laboratories and pathology groups from their provider networks. The net effect of this trend is that local labs lose access to those patients who were formerly in the Medicare Part B program, but are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage. (more…)
