Sunday, October 4, 2026

Understanding Sparano via Understanding the "C Statistic"

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The adjacent blog about the Oncotype test and Sparano's new IICM+ test, pivots almost every quantitative comparison on "C-statistic...

Is Sparano et al. Better than Oncotype DX? New Publication.

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From time to time a test is published as "Better than Oncotype Dx," which has been around since about 2004. Some have even been ba...

Case Study: The Border Between Wellness Devices, Medical @Home Devices, and Coding

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 What happens when a $299 wristband challenges a medical service built around much more expensive equipment?  In this fictional business sch...
Friday, October 2, 2026

What Cancer Payment Rewards, and What Gets Left Behind: Shah 2026 in JAMA Oncol.

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 In a new article at JAMA Oncology Shah describes two treatments - one superior - and then reveals we pay $100,000 for the less useful thin...

When AI Beats Google: Agentic AI Searchs for Media about "14 Day Rule"

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The "14 day rule" for CMS lab specimens is pretty obscure.  I asked Chat GPT to search the internet for media, op eds, etc, on 14 ...
Tuesday, September 29, 2026

CMS Releases Pricing Proposals for 110 New 2027 Lab Codes

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 CMS has released its 110 proposals for new lab codes for 2027.  On this web page , scroll down for Agendas and Important Materials to find ...

MolDx: Final Gapfill Pricing for CY2027

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The gapfill year has run its course for 17 codes. We saw proposed prices in May, final pries in September.  Five codes changed price (althou...

Digital Pathology Update: Signals from Leica, from CAP TODAY, from Mayo

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 [AI generated, Chat GPT 5.6] [Links at bottom] ## Future of Digital Pathology: Signals from Leica, Mayo, and CAP TODAY Digital pathology’s ...

Date of Service Rule for Inpatients: Does It Conflict with Other Regulations?

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The Medicare Date of Service rule defines "date of specimen collection" as the "date of service" - for inpatients, unles...
Monday, September 28, 2026

The Distribution of PAMA Prices: Case Study 81455, 81456 (51 or more tumor genes)

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CMS has released a new clin lab fee schedule for 2027-2028-2029.   Price cuts were common, based on reported private payer pricing data.  (G...
Friday, September 25, 2026

LegislationWatch: ASAP (Alzheimer Tests), MAIA, PACA, PPA (all for Medicare Advantage Claims)

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 ALZHEIMER ON THE HILL On September 16, 2026, the House Ways and Means committee advanced a bipartisan Alzheimer bill , "Alzheimer'...

Very Brief Blog: John Warren Highlights "Genealogy of Pricing" as Key to Crosswalks

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In an excellent Linked In posting, CMS consultant John Warren emphasizes that you can't do crosswalks and gapfill decisions any more, wi...
Thursday, September 24, 2026

Cheat Sheet: The Six Publications About GRAIL (Released Concurrent with FDA Ad Comm)

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We just had the Ad Comm for GRAIL - whose stock nearly doubled from 9/17 to 9/24.  Market cap rising from $2.5B to $5.5B.   You'll be ex...