In office laboratory insider tells how much in office labs are worth

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http://pathologyblawg.com/2012/07/02...n-office-labs/

Well, this makes me angry. Apparently these guys can install labs for free in 2012.

Originally Posted by Patholog

http://pathologyblawg.com/2012/07/02...n-office-labs/

Well, this makes me angry. Apparently these guys can install labs for free in 2012.

Have the anti-mark-up laws that some states have paased made any difference?

Anyone know anything>

Originally Posted by pathstudent

Have the anti-mark-up laws that some states have paased made any difference?

Anyone know anything>

I don't think so, because to payers, it appears as though the owners of these in office labs are doing the pathology. But I could be wrong.

Wow. Pathology has neither political clout nor pride. I mean we all knew it but this is just bad.

Originally Posted by Substance

Wow. Pathology has neither political clout nor pride. I mean we all knew it but this is just bad.

WTF, how do you get lack of pride out of this? That's insane. You do realize that there are a lot of people who actually LIKE working for reference labs and in office labs, right? Regular hours, regular schedule, pretty good pay for what they are doing. Obviously there are HUGE problems with the whole thing but to some people this is pretty much an awesome job. I think these people are idiots too, but again, this is the FREE MARKET AT WORK. It has essentially zero to do with pride. Don't malign the entire field, ok? And it is not "the job market"'s fault either. You could have high pathologist demand everywhere and pathologists would still be working for these groups and not collecting their whole fee. That is the way life works.

As for political clout, that is so so. Compared to who? Cardiologists who saw their salaries cut by 50%? Radiologists who saw their reimbursement fall even more than pathologists? Urologists who stopped getting paid for Lupron? Oncologists who now can't make ends meet unless they become employed physicians?

You people need to get a clue and live in the real world. Have some perspective. A lot of the concerns brought up are very valid, but the conclusions drawn from them here are beyond suspect. In office labs are terrible. They are quite often of inferior quality and are used to line the pockets of certain unscrupulous clinicians. Unfortunately for pathology there are also high quality in office labs (generally larger ones).

Originally Posted by lipomas

WTF, how do you get lack of pride out of this? That's insane. You do realize that there are a lot of people who actually LIKE working for reference labs and in office labs, right? Regular hours, regular schedule, pretty good pay for what they are doing. Obviously there are HUGE problems with the whole thing but to some people this is pretty much an awesome job. I think these people are idiots too, but again, this is the FREE MARKET AT WORK. It has essentially zero to do with pride. Don't malign the entire field, ok? And it is not "the job market"'s fault either. You could have high pathologist demand everywhere and pathologists would still be working for these groups and not collecting their whole fee. That is the way life works.

As for political clout, that is so so. Compared to who? Cardiologists who saw their salaries cut by 50%? Radiologists who saw their reimbursement fall even more than pathologists? Urologists who stopped getting paid for Lupron? Oncologists who now can't make ends meet unless they become employed physicians?

You people need to get a clue and live in the real world. Have some perspective. A lot of the concerns brought up are very valid, but the conclusions drawn from them here are beyond suspect. In office labs are terrible. They are quite often of inferior quality and are used to line the pockets of certain unscrupulous clinicians. Unfortunately for pathology there are also high quality in office labs (generally larger ones).

Very well said.

True, even in competitive specialties there are clinicians who give up a lot in order to get a better lifestyle. I sound like a broken record because I post this every 3 days, but these issues are far from limited to pathology. A lot of people in this forum have a severe "the grass is greener on the other side" complex, except for the part that they are only looking at the grass through a small window from several miles away.

Originally Posted by lipomas

WTF, how do you get lack of pride out of this? That's insane. You do realize that there are a lot of people who actually LIKE working for reference labs and in office labs, right? Regular hours, regular schedule, pretty good pay for what they are doing. Obviously there are HUGE problems with the whole thing but to some people this is pretty much an awesome job. I think these people are idiots too, but again, this is the FREE MARKET AT WORK. It has essentially zero to do with pride. Don't malign the entire field, ok? And it is not "the job market"'s fault either. You could have high pathologist demand everywhere and pathologists would still be working for these groups and not collecting their whole fee. That is the way life works.

As for political clout, that is so so. Compared to who? Cardiologists who saw their salaries cut by 50%? Radiologists who saw their reimbursement fall even more than pathologists? Urologists who stopped getting paid for Lupron? Oncologists who now can't make ends meet unless they become employed physicians?

You people need to get a clue and live in the real world. Have some perspective. A lot of the concerns brought up are very valid, but the conclusions drawn from them here are beyond suspect. In office labs are terrible. They are quite often of inferior quality and are used to line the pockets of certain unscrupulous clinicians. Unfortunately for pathology there are also high quality in office labs (generally larger ones).

I would not conflate reference labs with in-house labs. They are not remotely the same. The lifestyle perks and benefits you mention apply only to the former. In-house labs are generally piecework arrangements made with existing pathology groups who must still cover their own malpractice, coverage, etc., even though they technically may also be bogus "employees" of a made-up corporation. Clinical groups would much rather contract with local path groups than hire their own pathologist and provide all those expensive benefits and coverage during vacation. Pathologists do not choose to work in-house labs because of lifestyle considerations!

As for urologists not getting paid for Lupron, they can cry me a river. Any legitimate comparison of in-house labs with other specialties' woes should involve similar cutrate piecework deals. Can you provide any examples? I'd like to hear about them.