Wednesday, January 25, 2023

MolDx Updates Several Coverage Assessment Checklists

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The MolDx program uses a number of checklists and Excel documents to solicit and organize information for test review.   Some of the documen...

MolDx Publishes Transcripts from November Transplant Meetings (Heart/Lung and Kidney/Liver)

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Last November, MoLDx held full-day public meetings regarding evidence for use of novel molecular tests in transplant rejection, one day for ...
Friday, January 20, 2023

Brief Humor: ChatGPT Explains Strength of Evidence, and Specificity, Sensitivity

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The currently-open-access AI service, CHATGPT, was asked about hierarchy of evidence, other factors for clinical study validity, and sensiti...

A New White Paper: Liquid Biopsy for Comprehensive Profiling, Reimbursement and Coding

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NEW 2023 White Paper on Liquid Biopsy CLICK HERE . ______________________________ Background - My Spring 2022 White paper Last spring, in Ma...
Thursday, January 19, 2023

Very Brief Blog: CGS MAC Posts Revision of "Histochemistry" LCD

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 In new-and-revised LCD news, the CGS MAC has posted a revised LCD for histochemistry, for public comment.   The revision, posted January 19...

Medicare Updates its Deadly "Statistical Extrapolation" Rules for Recoupments

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For many decades, Medicare has used a statistical sampling and extrapolation method to impose large recoupments on providers.  For a hypothe...

Very Brief Blog: Gapfill Process for 2023 Starts at CMS

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In December 2022, CMS released CR13023, annual update for lab fees and policies for 2023.  Find it here . 66 codes appear to be marked for &...

AMA Posts Winter Quarter 2023 PLA Code Proposals

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AMA takes quarterly applications for PLA codes (proprietary laboratory analyses) and rapidy shepards them through a review committee and onw...
Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Very Brief Blog: ChatGPT DIscusses Lab Industry Challenges, Outlook for Clinical Genetics

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In the selections below, I asked ChatGPT three questions about the U.S. lab industry.   1) Challenges facing the industry, 2) How AI might i...

Very Brief Blog: ChatGPT: Performs Well on U.S. Medical Board Exams

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The suddenly wildly popular application, ChatGPT ( AI to answer nearly any question, with answers in paragraph form ) will perform well on U...

Brief Blog; OIG Issues Report on 2021 Lab Spending at Medicare; 81408 Catastrophe Continues

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 On December 19, 2022, the OIG issued its annual report on Medicare lab spending.   The headline is, "17% increase from 2020, driven by...
Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Mini Journal Club: Liquid Biopsy in Colorectal Cancer Relapse & Therapy

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Press release by Natera and a publication in Nature Medicine, using circulating tumor DNA to predict chemotherapy benefit after surgery for ...

Very Brief Blog: Consolidation in Genomic Services: Pierian et al.

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 An open access article at Genomeweb announces a merger in the genomic services space. Pierian, Seven Bridges, and UgenTec will united und...
Monday, January 16, 2023

Regulatory Corner: The UCSF-Stanford Regulatory Science Summit; Videos Online

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New to me, on January 8, 2023, the joint UCSF-Stanford regulatory science institute "CERSI" held a summit with top flight guest sp...
Sunday, January 15, 2023

Finding: Payers Vary in What Evidence They Cite; Tufts Study on drug evaluation methods

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The Tufts health economics group has a new article out looking at how payers vary alot in the evidence they site for the same service.   The...