Friday, August 28, 2020

Open Access Webinar: September 2: Challenges of Genetic Test Billing & Reimbursement

 On Wednesday, September 2, at 9 pacific 12 eastern, Concert Genetics is holding a free webinar on the topic, "Overcoming the Challenges of Genetic Test Identification for Billing and Reimbursement."

See the website for the workshop here.   Registration is open access.

Speakers include Mira Irons of AMA, Jim Almas of Labcorp, and Bruce Quinn.  The panel will be moderated by Cliff Goodman of Lewin Group/Optum.

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Short summary clipped below.

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Genetic tests continue to enter the market in enormous quantity and variety, and genetic testing laboratories constantly evolve their test offerings. Identifying and tracking tests is critical to many core healthcare operations, from clinical test ordering, to gathering evidence about clinical utility and value, and ultimately, to insurance coverage, billing and reimbursement.

Billing and reimbursement are particularly pivotal as they affect patient/consumer access, market economics, and the viability of innovative new tests and labs. Growing demand for genetic tests and their increasingly frequent use are only compounding these issues, with direct clinical, economic, and social implications.

Recent developments emphasizing the importance of this topic include:

  • The continued release of new CPT®, PLA and MAAA codes
  • The FDA/CMS parallel review process and emerging National Coverage Decisions
  • Recent high-profile investigations (DOJ, OIG, etc.) involving laboratory billing practices
  • How the COVID-19 pandemic raises the importance of test order tracking

This webinar seeks to provide a market update and highlight the ongoing work to overcome these challenges. Topics for discussion will include:

  • Underlying issues that make test identification difficult in genetics
  • Challenges caused by these issues (general and specific)
  • Work underway and progress to date