| R. Lewis Dark:
Healthcare Accelerates Its Pace of Change
DURING THE NEXT FEW YEARS, clinical laboratories and pathology group
practices can expect to see the pace of change in healthcare and laboratory
medicine accelerate. As that occurs, lab directors and pathologists
will need to be faster at responding to evolving threats and opportunities.
Our selection of the “Top Ten Lab Industry Stories for 2006” makes
my point. For example, take the bombshell announcement by UnitedHealth
Group, Inc. in October that it was dropping Quest Diagnostics Incorporated as a provider on its national lab services contract. That left Laboratory Corporation of America as the sole national
laboratory provider.
However, UnitedHealth's decision also creates an opportunity for
nimble regional laboratories. In a number of communities, UnitedHealth
has reached out to establish a tighter relationship with selected regional
laboratory providers. These newly-recast relationships open the door for
those local laboratories to expand market share, particularly in cities
where Quest Diagnostics has a significant presence, but will now no
longer be a UnitedHealth contract provider.
Our second most important “Top Ten” lab industry story for 2006 is
the literal explosion of interest by urologists and gastroenterologists to
build laboratories and make anatomic pathology an in-house ancillary
service for their group practices. This is having a devastating impact on
national pathology lab companies as well as private practice pathologists
based in community hospitals. Urologists and GIs typically refer a high
volume of biopsies. Loss of those specimens and their associated revenues
is proving disasterous to many pathology laboratorties.
There's another growing trend that has the potential to negatively
affect the cash flow of clinical laboratories and pathology group practices.
As more Americans enroll in high-deductible health plans and
HSAs (health savings accounts), it means that laboratories will need to
collect larger amounts of money directly from the patient. In fact, I predict
that improved billing and collections will become a major business
priority for most laboratories because of this fact. These are just three
trends in our Top Ten list which illustrate how healthcare’s pace of
change is accelerating.
Sonic Pays $180 Million In Acquisition of AEL
Purchase of American Esoteric Laboratories
puts Sonic Healthcare into new U.S markets
In a transaction that was quietly negotiated,
Sonic Healthcare Ltd. will purchase American Esoteric
Laboratories, Inc. (AEL). News of the sale was released
Friday and the sale may close in early January. Once it
owns AEL, Sonic will have a major presence in Memphis,
Tennessee. It will also gain regional laboratory operations
in Tyler, Texas and Morristown, Tennessee.
Technology Update: Product Cuts Claim Denials,
Boosts Payment from Insurers
Electronic claims system may help laboratories
collect more dollars from CDHP-insured patients
2006's Top Lab Stories Identify New Threats
Several disruptive events during the year
promise to trigger widespread change
CEO SUMMARY: Presented here are THE DARK REPORT'S “Ten Biggest Lab Stories of 2006.” Compared to earlier years, 2006 was not transformative for the laboratory industry. But it was
an eventful year, particularly influenced by Siemens' decision
to acquire DPC and Bayer Diagnostics, along with the decision
by UnitedHealth Group to grant an exclusive national lab
services contract to Laboratory Corporation of America.
Acute Histotech Shortage Grows Across the USA
Trends in histology point to a widening gap
between supply of labor and demand by labs
CEO
SUMMARY: Pathology laboratories are enjoying
steady increases in specimen volume and revenue as new
molecular assays gain acceptance by clinicians. However,
the supply of histotechnologists is failing to keep pace with
growth in the volume of tissue-based testing. One executive
who places histotechs into laboratories predicts that
competition among labs for skilled histotechs will intensify.
Pathologist Is on Board Of Central Florida RHIO
Regional health information organization
has several ambitious goals and objectives
CEO
SUMMARY: Participation in the development and implementation
of Central Florida's nascent regional health information
organization (RHIO) is helping Clinical Pathology
Laboratories (CPL), of Austin, Texas, achieve four strategic
goals. Philip Chen, M.D., Ph.D., CPL’s Vice President and
Chief Medical Informatics Officer, predicts that this RHIO will
speed up the integration of healthcare informatics.
Global Lab Trends: There is Steady Convergence
In Lab Operations Worldwide
Common analyzers, common reagents support
growing “international” standard for most labs
INTELLIGENCE: Late & Latent
MicroRNA MOLECULES
EMERGING AS USEFUL
LEUKEMIA MARKERS CHOLESTEROL TESTS
IN DOCS’S OFFICES | 
