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 | February 8, 2010 - Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Pathologist PC Billing |
The Illinois Supreme Court has denied a petition to review the recent decision of the Appellate Court of Third Circuit of Illinois to allow professional component billing by pathologists in the Martis v. Pekin Memorial Hospital case.
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| February 5, 2010 - Oral Arguments Heard in Gene Patents Lawsuit |
Both sides in the landmark lawsuit challenging the patenting of human genes have asked a federal court to rule in their favor without a trial. At issue are patents granted to Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are indicators of hereditary disposition to breast and ovarian cancer.
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| January 28, 2010 - Carilion, Spectrum to Merge to Form Major Lab Company in MidAtlantic and Southern Regions of U.S. |
Annual revenue of new company expected to top $300 million
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| January 27, 2010 - MedPAC Considers Removing Some Lab Tests from In-Office Ancillary Services Exception |
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is considering three options for addressing problems results from in the in-office ancillary services exception to the Stark law, including excluding certain services from the exception (such as diagnostic tests that are not usually provided at the same time as the office visit).
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| January 27, 2010 - Supreme Court Upholds Ruling on Forensic Lab Testimony |
The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to its ruling last year that lab analysts and other forensic specialists must be available to testify in person at trials. The court ordered the case, Briscoe v. Virginia, back to state court for further consideration.
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| January 25, 2010 - Quest’s Q409 Revenue Grows 2.7% to $1.8 Billion, Full Year 2009 Revenues Grow 2.8% to $7.5 Billion |
But AP revenues down 1% for 2009
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| January 21, 2010 - Genomic Health Introduces Colon Cancer Test |
Oncotype DX colon cancer test can assess risk of recurrence in patients with stage II disease.
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| January 14, 2010 - Predictive Biosciences Acquires OncoDiagnostic Laboratory |
Molecular diagnostics company's purchase of CLIA-certified specialty laboratory will accelerate commercial launch of cancer tests.
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| January 13, 2010 - Medicare Spending Up, Even as National Health Spending Slows |
Medicare spending continues to grow even as the growth in nation’s total health tab slowed, in part due to the economic recession, according to the latest annual report on national health spending from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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| January 12, 2010 - AHA Backs Revival of Lab Tax |
he American Hospital Association has called for reviving the lab tax to replace the 1.75 percent reductions in the Medicare lab fee schedule contained in the Senate health care reform bill. In a letter to House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid, AHA favored the $750 million annual fee on clinical laboratory providers, saying the Medicare cuts would penalize hospital-based labs more than the new fee would.
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| January 12, 2010 - ADA Issues New Recommendation on Diabetes Testing |
New official guidelines for diabetes screening and diagnosis now include the hemoglobin A1C test.
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| January 11, 2010 - ACLA Publishes Draft IT Specifications for Lab Interface |
Framework open for public comment through March 10
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| December 30, 2009 - Microarray Test for H1N1 Flu Is Latest Authorized for Emergency Use |
The FDA has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) of the TessArray resequencing influenza A microarray detection panel for the detection of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus.
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| December 30, 2009 - CMS Investigating NH Hospital and Lab |
The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) has begun an investigation into a New Hampshire hospital that already has been targeted by state investigators for a breach of patient medical records.
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| December 28, 2009 - Medicare Lab Fees to be Cut 1.9 Percent Jan. 1 |
Lab fees will be cut by 1.9 percent starting Jan. 1 under the 2010 calendar year Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This marks the first time in the fee schedule’s 25-year history that the update has dropped into negative territory.
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