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April 2025 Executive War College Month! |
As noted above, it’s Executive War College month. Many of you know us, but just in case, we (Sheryl Miller, Shane Cogossi, and I) will be there. We’ll look forward to seeing you if you’re going. Either way, please click on any of our names to send us a message.
The conference will focus on the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare and, more specifically, on laboratories. Coincidentally, we published a piece on AI in laboratory billing entitled “Laboratory Billing: Why Smart Technology needs to have Smart People with Human Expertise in AI-Powered Laboratory Billing.”
We hope you enjoy the rest of this month’s LAByrinth!
In a ruling dated March 31, a US District Court judge in TX vacated the premise that the FDA should have their hand in regulating laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) as being “medical devices” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
The argument against FDA oversight was that LDTs were already “under the microscope” (yes, we said that) as being scrupulously overseen by CLIA and that additional hands-on involvement by the FDA would be an “unwarranted overreach” severely hampering the creation of LDTs. Proponents of the ruling hold that the FDA’s involvement would’ve added billions of dollars to healthcare costs while preventing millions of Americans from accessing high-quality healthcare.
If your laboratory creates LDTs, you’re undoubtedly pleased about the outcome of the lawsuit brought by the ACLA and AMP, among others. Click here for the AMP press release.
The Commission on Laboratory Accreditation (COLA) established its Workforce Action Alliance (WAA) in response to the ongoing laboratory staffing shortage. COLA’s third WAA annual summit, held in Chandler, AZ, May 6-8, is in conjunction with COLA’s Laboratory Enrichment Program.
Click here for details on the WAA Summit.
(ADSRCM’s outsourced workforce and the automation we use can help offload your laboratory’s labor-intensive routines such as obtaining prior authorizations and eligibility verifications, preventing and managing denials, tracking claims, reconciling EOBs, appeals, patient statements and patients’ questions about their statements, financial/operational analytics, workflow, and more.)
A new study by the Journal of Applied Psychology “notes” how background music can affect workplace performance and morale. Since laboratories are workplaces, the study applies to laboratories as well.
The study refers to “music misfit,” meaning that the background sounds may not suit those who are exposed to them. If they don’t, a laboratory team can lose focus, which isn’t good for laboratories. Bad things can happen if focus and even emotional regulation are tampered with in a laboratory.
Any laboratorians exposed to what, for them, might be misfit music could experience cognitive fatigue (impairing data interpretation/documentation), minimized emotional regulation (not suitable for high-pressure environments), and decreased collaboration (negative interpersonal interactions with co-laboratorians).
How to deal with this?
The study notes that, of course, the idea behind music is to be pleasant, not distracting, and not disturbing. Striking the right balance is the “key” in solving music issues.
A laboratory based in NJ was ordered to pay $3.3 million to Medicaid for conducting urine tests without evidence of doctors’ approval.
The NJ Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) made the order to pay. The OSC’s Medicaid Fraud Division reported that in 54% of sample claims from 2017 to 2021, the laboratory charged for drug testing services without signed orders by physicians or other providers who are authorized to approve those tests.
In a handful of those claims, it was reported that the laboratory billed for more costly tests than were requested.
More can be seen in a report by mycentraljersey which includes statements by the laboratory’s attorney. The OSC’s report is here.
“Anticompetitive” has nothing on “antidisestablishmentarianism” but the same is true in reverse.
In any case, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has tasked a task force with identifying and eliminating federal and state regulations that hinder market competition in general, including healthcare.
What’s being eyeballed includes healthcare laws and regulations that discourage doctors and hospitals from providing low-cost, high-quality healthcare, instead encouraging overbilling and consolidation. A train of thought is that these types of anticompetitive regulations put affordable healthcare out of reach for millions of American families.
The DOJ is seeking public comments until May 26 on which specific laws and regulations create the greatest barriers to competition in general, which again includes those in healthcare. In our collective healthcare neck of the woods (hospitals, health systems, providers, and laboratories), we are encouraged to submit feedback.
Click here to submit comments, and here for more overall taskforce information from the DOJ.
The week of April 20 is not just any old week; it’s Laboratory Professionals Week!
Good for all of you laboratorians. You deserve more than a week but certainly, you can bask in its glory for now. Maybe 2026 will have a Laboratory Professionals Month. Hopefully it would be one with 31 days.
You can drive maximized revenue and productivity for your laboratory with outsourced services from ADSRCM, or about the MedicsPremier platform from ADS if in-laboratory automation is preferred! Contact us at 844-599-6881 or email rcminfo@adsc.com for more information, and about the ADSRCM guarantee to increase your revenue in 90 days.
We strive to provide our newsletters with news of the current month, not the previous month. Feedback or comments on our newsletters/content are greatly appreciated. Please opine by emailing marc.klar@adsc.com or by calling me at 973-931-7516. We’d love to hear from you!
Marc E. Klar, Vice President, Marketing, ADSRCM.
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