Private practitioners doing commercial labwork

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Anyone know of any arrangements private practices have had signing out work from the big commercial labs?

 

[pathstudent]

Anyone know of any arrangements private practices have had signing out work from the big commercial labs?

Yes it used to common practice. Back in the 80s and early 90s reference labs farmed out all their derm biopsies and pap smears to local path groups because they didn't know what to do with them and pathologists got the PC and/or PC and TC.

At some time pathologists that owned their own labs griped to medicare that the technical component was too low (back then it might have been 40 bucks for the TC and 70 for the PC for an 88305). Well CMS or whoever decides these things in sort of an slashed the PC and put it on the TC (i.e. 70 for TC and 40 for PC). This event is what made reference labs go after all the biopsies. They became lucrative. After a few years the gastros and uros caught on and that is what made the insourcing of pathology happen.

It is too bad that all that ever went down. Old Pathologists at the local path society meeting have told me that you once got around 90 for the PC on an 88305. Now that is down to around 35-40. Wouldn't it be nice if was still around 90 or there abouts?

 

[LADoc00]

It IS indeed common. What is your exact question?

 

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1) What is the reimbursement like for such an arrangement? Is it by container, or a straight fee? Are the rates similar to pod lab rates (like $10 for an 88305)?
2) How does a pathology practice approach Quest or Labcorps with such a proposal?