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Stop complaining
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Thanks. We should all participate on this.
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Once in-office labs are gone, those specimens will be heading to large national labs.....
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What do you propose be done about it then? Nothing? Sounds like learned helplessness to me.
D
deleted314957
Folks, we (now being retired I should say "you" ) are a very small specialty that has almost zero clout with gov't. I've seen this over decades. We used to be a VERY financially attractive specialty
and made tons of money 20-40 years ago
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They'll also need to eliminate client billing, and any sort of shady deals involving labs paying for in-office staff or other perks that currently exist before small labs would get any benefit from these changes. As it is, larger labs offer "deals" that small labs can't match. We've had several potential derm clients turn us down because we can't offer the incentives the big labs do. Those incentives, which are all technically kickbacks, should be made illegal as well. I'm not holding my breath.
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Exactly. Until there is legislation to kill off ALL forms of inducement, the death of in-office labs is hardly worth celebrating. They will just send the specimens to the national labs due to the kickbacks they get.
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It is.
The issue is that the oversupply fills the field of pathology with people it doesn't need and that nobody else wants. Its not like all of these people are masters of their craft. More than half of them trained abroad, and I would wager most of them end up in questionable residency programs that profit from their recruitment through government-mandated incentives (the antithesis of capitalism)
They're probably not particularly good at providing patient care either. Nevertheless, they're warm bodies who achieve board certification through an esoteric, largely irrelevant multiple-choice examination, which surely means they are safe to plow through thousands of GI biopsies for the profit of large corporations.
It really all comes down to the oversupply.
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That is a true historical statement about Pathology. It is still a wealthy specialty, only if we could keep 100% of our labor (PC).
Understand that TC is a return on Capital (i.e., investment) and not a return on our labor. Many of us lament loss of TC of AP, however, it was a 3 decades long fluke that will not repeat. Corporations, hospitals and other MDs saw the golden pot and jumped on the wagon. The result was wetting of their appetite for an extra-income and now they are coming after our labor (PC)
A necessary pre-condition to prevent the above, in my opinion, is for us to become fewer, select and excellent.
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Who's ignorant now? I don't know what path depts. you hang around at, but I have yet to meet an "abroad trained" physician who opts to pursue pathology in the US who wasn't as good if not better then their North American counterpart. Yes, I'm sure there are some out there. But, if anything they are the exception. Despite what you may believe, path is not the bottom of the barrel for ease of getting into.
It just sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder for IMGs. Why? Some more deserving IMG took "your" spot? Ha!
I've already written my Congressmen about getting rid of the in-office exemption. Granted, it won't make a great difference in pathology unless client billing is also addressed, but, hell, even the two together won't reverse the self-transmogrification of the field. Once they know you'll work for peanuts there's no going back.
The self-referral abuse by in-office mills has been such a wonder for me to witness that I for one would be glad to see them all close.
The self-referral abuse by in-office mills has been such a wonder for me to witness that I for one would be glad to see them all close.
the problem is the PC for high volume biopsy work is probably inflated. It's like a young IMG in office lab hire who plows through excessive GI or derm or uro biopsies by the stackful for 35% of the pc and none of the tc. They're still making decent money in many cases on a per hour basis, probably as much or more as many physician 1099 contract employees in other specialties get on a per hour basis.
Part of why you guys are getting taken advantage of is the margin on this sort of work allows it. Seems like the solution is to decrease certain reimbursements, which then cuts out the incentive for other people to take a nice slice. Would you guys be as upset if your total income was the same but you weren't giving any of it away?
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In office exemption is the last thing KEEPING pathology reads local.
The irony here is CAP is trying to make you think they doing the will of their pathologists when everyone is more than aware LabCorp/Quest etc are pulling the strings.
Once this work is banned, it will all go Quest....their cunning plan is working.
The irony here is CAP is trying to make you think they doing the will of their pathologists when everyone is more than aware LabCorp/Quest etc are pulling the strings.
Once this work is banned, it will all go Quest....their cunning plan is working.
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LA,
Do you see a similar fate for Radiology? I ask because there are some obvious parallels between path and rads.
thanx
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What are the rationale for the above? In direct-billing and anti-markup states, I see biopsies flowing back to local labs because the national labs have low reputation + local labs usually have relationship with the clinicians.
Potential drawback, a serious one, I see is the clinicians lining up with those advocating for either bundling or further cut in the reimbursements.
I've heard this prediction before on this forum. There is no client billing in my state, so what would be the motivation to use LabCorps, etc, who people are generally dissatisfied with? We've had IOP labs close in our market, and the work has come back to us. We've been able to maintain contracts for outpatient AP work with all major payors.
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Goddamn it. I can't get kicked off this forum even when I try 
I considered submitting the letter to my fave politician but then I was like why should quest and labcorp make more money from pathology services than your local clinician... No reason at all. Until there is more ownership of pathology by less lame pathologists than the current group of
with entrenched interests, bill that's going to allow monopoly by lame corporate labs that sux. Pathology needs a total overhaul in who runs labs - pathologists. Who bills - pathologists. Yes and total privileges of being a doctor should be given to pathologists unlike the 
that you are treated like now. Although, I do know enough people in this field to say that some.... alright, whoamikidding most of you are the most idiotic bunch of jerks and bozos and you should get the hell out. Sure the sluts can go ahead say that you are afraid of me or whatever 🤣
I considered submitting the letter to my fave politician but then I was like why should quest and labcorp make more money from pathology services than your local clinician... No reason at all. Until there is more ownership of pathology by less lame pathologists than the current group of
with entrenched interests, bill that's going to allow monopoly by lame corporate labs that sux. Pathology needs a total overhaul in who runs labs - pathologists. Who bills - pathologists. Yes and total privileges of being a doctor should be given to pathologists unlike the that you are treated like now. Although, I do know enough people in this field to say that some.... alright, whoamikidding most of you are the most idiotic bunch of jerks and bozos and you should get the hell out. Sure the sluts can go ahead say that you are afraid of me or whatever 🤣
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Goddamn it. I can't get kicked off this forum even when I try
I considered submitting the letter to my fave politician but then I was like why should quest and labcorp make more money from pathology services than your local clinician... No reason at all. Until there is more ownership of pathology by less lame pathologists than the current group of
Just do what is right, for honest pathologists, and at least for trickle down effect.
