October 2014

How can we slow down the growth of cancer costs and preserve-or better yet-enhance clinical outcomes?

Virtually everyone in the clinical laboratory business is now acquainted with Z-code identifiers. Each unique laboratory test should have a unique tracking code, even if more than one Z-code identifier is reported with a corresponding American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) billing code.

It seems like big data is everywhere these days. It's being touted as a solution for physicians and practices who would like to participate in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and accountable care-like contracts with payers.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is bringing unprecedented changes to how health care is paid for in the US, and both primary care physicians and specialists need to understand how these changes will affect their revenues.

In 2014, the amount of medical and other information has only increased, and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets make it even easier to access that data.

In July, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) reported that an innovative program using bundled payment for cancer care resulted in an impressive 34% reduction in medical costs when compared with costs for a control group