| R. Lewis Dark:
Citizens Taking on the Government
IT WAS P.J. O'ROURKE WHO SAID THAT "giving money and power to government
is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." I think of that quote when
I ponder the Medicare Laboratory Competitive Demonstration Project and the
twisted reasoning of the faceless bureaucrats at the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) who created this byzantine scheme.
P.J. O'Rourke is one our nation's foremost political satirists. He is currently
the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and regularly contributes
to The Atlantic Monthly. Some of our erudite readers will likely recall
that, in his day, H. L. Mencken was an acerbic commentator on government
and culture in the United States. So, O'Rourke's observation above is in keeping
with a long American tradition of pointing out the nonsensical and often
counterproductive actions that regularly emerge from our government.
The Medicare Laboratory Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project certainly
meets that description. It is a bad idea made worse by a bureaucracy that
has an agenda which directly conflicts with the needs of the patients that the
Medicare programis chartered to serve.As designed, the bidding demonstration
violates the spirit of the laws that called it into life. Further, recent court documentsfiled in the lawsuit by the three San Diego laboratories attempting to get
a federal judge to review this demonstration project are laying open to public
scrutiny the willingness of federal officials to ride roughshod over the law.
To read these documents, informed by an understanding of the design of
the competitive bidding demo, is to see, firsthand, the exercise of power, with
little respect to the full constitutional rights of the healthcare providers to be
affected by the demonstration project, nor the negative effects likely to be
foisted upon those Medicare beneficiaries in the San Diego area who will be
denied their choice of laboratory.
That is why the lawsuit filed in federal court by Sharp Health Care, Scripps
Health, and Internist Laboratory is a worthwhile step by the laboratory profession.
Too often, it is only through the courts that citizens and private companies
are able to constrain government power.As the public documents in this
court case now reveal, Medicare officials overstepped their bounds. Now it is up
to a federal judge to study the law andmake a ruling. Whatever the outcome, it
was important for the laboratory profession to take this step and serve notice
to CMS officials that they should carefully follow the law.
Not getting The Dark Report in your mailbox every 3 weeks?
Judge Rules Against Labs In Medicare Lab Bid Case
Three San Diego Labs lose round one and
come out swinging at the start of round two
CEO SUMMARY: On February 14, Federal District Judge
Thomas J. Whelan denied the request for a temporary restraining
order (TRO) by three San Diego labs that would have stopped
the Medicare Laboratory Competitive Bidding Demonstration
pilot project until several legal challenges were adjudicated. It is
believed that CMS received bid applications from an unknown
number of laboratories by the February 15 deadline. Now round
two in this federal lawsuit is about to get under way.
ISO 15189 Accreditation Program Offered by CAP
ISO 15189 Accreditation remains voluntary
for laboratories here in the United States
CEO SUMMARY: Two strong trends in laboratory management
can be seen in the College of American Pathologists’
(CAP) move to offer accreditation to ISO 15189:2007. The first
trend is the movement toward quality management systems
such as Lean and Six Sigma. The second trend is the global
convergence of laboratory operations. Also, a growing number
of countries are basing laboratory accreditation on ISO 15189,
which is another reason why CAP is adding this new service.
Michigan Dermatologist Gets 10.5 Years in Fraud Case
Federal prosecutors cite five-year pattern
of fraud totaling an estimated $1.9 million
CEO SUMMARY: In a federal case involving billing improprieties and insurance fraud, a federal judge sentenced Michigan dermatologist
Robert W. Stokes, M.D., to 126 months in prison and
ordered him to pay $178,100 in fines and assessments, with the
amount of restitution yet to be determined. Stokeswas tried in federal
court last April facing 73 counts, including 38 counts of fraud
relating tomarking up anatomic pathology services that he did not
perform, but which he presumably purchased from a third party.
NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: Hospitals Saw Several Benefits
In Forming Laboratory Joint Venture
CEO SUMMARY: For the past eight years, growing numbers of hospitals
and health systems have launched laboratory outreach programs.
Hospital CEOs are recognizing that laboratory outreach programs generate
worthwhile operational gains, along with steadily-increasing revenues.
However, laboratory outreach programs also require a significant capital
investment, because the hospital laboratory needs to match the service
levels of other laboratory competitors in the community. At MountainStar
Healthcare Network in Salt Lake City, Utah, senior hospital administrators
decided on a business strategy of partnering with Pathology Associates
Medical Laboratories (PAML) of Spokane, Washington. PAML would bring
the necessary capital and management expertise to the laboratory joint
venture. MountainStar would provide the laboratory testing resources.
MARKET TRENDS: Lab/Path M&A Day Explores
High Prices Paid to Lab Owners
May 15 program brings together lab buyers,
lab sellers, and financial experts to discuss trends
Not getting The Dark Report in your mailbox every 3 weeks?
INTELLIGENCE: Late & Latent
QUEST BULLISH
ON ITS PROSPECTS
IN INDIA
ADD TO: Global Labs | 
