Stop Pod Labs now

[djmd]

Stop Pod Labs now

http://www.ascp.org/Advocacy/NewsArticle.aspx?PrimaryCode=EPOL-0407#C

" ASCP recently led a coalition of organizations in a meeting with staff for House of Representatives Ways & Means Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA).... The meeting centered on concerns about pod labs, self referral, and the over-utilization and inappropriate mark- up of Medicare laboratory test charges.

...officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) who indicated the agency plans to outline a series of proposals aimed at the pod lab issue. CMS intends to unveil a revised reform proposal as part of its 2008 proposed Physician Fee Schedule when it publishes that proposed rule in August."

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[LADoc00]

US:

 

[LADoc00]

Gastros and Dermatologists:

 

[djmd]

Not to disparage your choice of a more recent movie, but don't all the Spartans die?

 

[docbiohazard]

You can access the ASCP's advocacy website to "take action" and email your representatives and so forth at:

http://capwiz.com/ascpath/issues/

Just FYI...

 

[mlw03]

while we're on "the 300" don't ya'll love how both the Spartan and Persian leaders spoke English? gotta love that reality. but i guess a movie in Greek and Farsi wouldn't have quite as neat.

 

[quant]

You can access the ASCP's advocacy website to "take action" and email your representatives and so forth at:

http://capwiz.com/ascpath/issues/

Just FYI...

I did my part....

 

[yaah]

A funny thing I saw at USCAP was that there was a guy who had an abstract (I think it was under the "special topics" section or something) which was a poster. His abstract (#1554) had the following background:

"New models of practices have appeared in different medical specialties. In pathology, along with traditional private and academic settings, new joint ventures in which physicians groups share in profits for pathology services exist. These types of practices are referred to as condo laboratories. National pathology associations have expressed concerns about the quality of pathology services provided in these laboratories.The aim of this study was to examine the results of objective parameters for PNB in a condo laboratory compared to earlier published data in the pathology literature."

The basic gyst of the poster was that the diagnostic results they got were the same as a normal practice (i.e. equal numbers of cancer, atrophy, etc). And that 95% of cases were signed out without a second opinion. OK dude. I could start my own lab now as a third year resident and probably get pretty good results on prostate dx too, that doesn't mean it's good for patient care.

Too bad they didn't give him a platform talk, that way people could have had their friendly questions answered. I kind of wonder if his abstract was vetted by his urologist "partners," who made sure he included "physicians share in profits for pathology services."

 

[so somatic]

I am so glad that someone started a thread about this important topic. Everyone reading this message should click on the link above and visit the ASCP website to inform themselves about pod labs! Then send an email to your representative in Washington from the website. Apparently CMS will be reviewing the issue soon, so the more pressure from pathologists and pathologists-to-be, the better!

 

[Phishfood]

i dont quite understand what a pod lab is. can someone explain it to me?

 

[yaah]

Try clicking the link above.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

while we're on "the 300" don't ya'll love how both the Spartan and Persian leaders spoke English? gotta love that reality. but i guess a movie in Greek and Farsi wouldn't have quite as neat.

The bigger issue at hand is that the movie sucked. I don't care what language it was in...but it was just bad. I'll be deleting the xvid file from my hard drive now.

 

[djmd]

The bigger issue at hand is that the movie sucked. I don't care what language it was in...but it was just bad. I'll be deleting the xvid file from my hard drive now.

YEAH! stick it to them.. delete that illegal pirated copy... wait....
Is deleting it really hurting them? should you burn a hundred copies?

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Sorry...I already used my 100 blank discs to burn 100 copies of Borat.

Seriously...I don't use pirated movies to make money. I just download movies so that I don't have to pay to see them (or buy them at a later date).

 

[mlw03]

The bigger issue at hand is that the movie sucked. I don't care what language it was in...but it was just bad. I'll be deleting the xvid file from my hard drive now.

bierstiefel - how can you say such a thing?! the 300 was awesome!! 2 hours and blood and guts, with a rape thrown in there for good measure. believable? hell no. oscar-worthy? of course not. better than borat? no f'ing way, and i'm jewish. more entertaining than 90% of the crap that comes out in theatres? most definately.

 

[djmd]

better than borat? no f'ing way,

Everything you say from now on will be viewed with extreme skepticism.

 

[deschutes]

Sorry...I already used my 100 blank discs to burn 100 copies of Borat.

Why would anyone need 100 copies of Borat?

I was in Phuket, Thailand, trying to enjoy a beachfront seafood grill dinner. The movie they chose to show on the big screen was Borat. Surreal.

Watching the prolonged fat guy sequence over dinner was... an experience I'll find difficult to forget.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

bierstiefel - how can you say such a thing?! the 300 was awesome!! 2 hours and blood and guts, with a rape thrown in there for good measure. believable? hell no. oscar-worthy? of course not. better than borat? no f'ing way, and i'm jewish. more entertaining than 90% of the crap that comes out in theatres? most definately.

Sorry man, but I stick with my opinion. 300 was just disappointing after waiting a week for that bit torrent to download. That movie would've been better if that last scene before Leonidas and his 300 men get killed, they turned their backs and mooned Xerxes similar to that scene in Braveheart. That would have earned my respect. Basically that movie consists of 300 men in speedos fighting and fighting and getting to the last battle and all dying.

"SPARTANSSSS! PREPARE FOR GLOOOOORRRYYYYY!" ... ooh, big man you are Leonidas! It would've been better if Leonidas said, "TIMMAH! LIVIN A LIE! TIMMAH!"

You gotta admit, Borat had some classic moments:

"One time my sister show her vageena to my brother Bilo and say, 'You will never get this...you will never get this...lah lah lah'...then one day he break out of his cage and he GET THIS! High five!"

"Here in America, women can choose who they want to have sex with..."
"WHAAAAAT???"

Anyways, I really didn't burn 100 copies of Borat. I did burn one copy though just in case my computer dies.

 

[mlw03]

all right - we'll have to agree to disagree on 300. i like your mooning xerxes suggestion and would add it'd have been pretty entertaining if leonidas has grabbed one of xerxes's nipple rings at some point.

no argument here about borat being a classic. i haven't seen it since it was in theatres, but i'm planning to get a bottle of tequila and watch it with some of my friends and every time they make a jew joke, we gotta take a shot. i doubt i'll be coherent 30 minutes into the movie.

Sorry man, but I stick with my opinion. 300 was just disappointing after waiting a week for that bit torrent to download. That movie would've been better if that last scene before Leonidas and his 300 men get killed, they turned their backs and mooned Xerxes similar to that scene in Braveheart. That would have earned my respect. Basically that movie consists of 300 men in speedos fighting and fighting and getting to the last battle and all dying.

"SPARTANSSSS! PREPARE FOR GLOOOOORRRYYYYY!" ... ooh, big man you are Leonidas! It would've been better if Leonidas said, "TIMMAH! LIVIN A LIE! TIMMAH!"

You gotta admit, Borat had some classic moments:

"One time my sister show her vageena to my brother Bilo and say, 'You will never get this...you will never get this...lah lah lah'...then one day he break out of his cage and he GET THIS! High five!"

"Here in America, women can choose who they want to have sex with..."
"WHAAAAAT???"

Anyways, I really didn't burn 100 copies of Borat. I did burn one copy though just in case my computer dies.

 

[106174]

A committee hearing on direct billing legislation (HB 1557) is scheduled in the Texas House Committee on State Affairs. We hope to become one of the 12 states below that have outlawed markup charges by physicians ordering anatomis pathology services.

CA, NY, NJ, AZ, MT, IA, SC, LA, TN, MA, RI, NV

 

[CameronFrye]

better than borat? no f'ing way, and i'm jewish.

Borat was actually very popular in Israel. Throughout the movie, he's speaking in Hebrew, so Israeli filmgoers got a lot more of the inside jokes.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Borat was actually very popular in Israel. Throughout the movie, he's speaking in Hebrew, so Israeli filmgoers got a lot more of the inside jokes.

Borat deserves to win awards!

 

[CameronFrye]

Borat deserves to win awards!

VERY NICE!

 

[mlw03]

Borat was actually very popular in Israel. Throughout the movie, he's speaking in Hebrew, so Israeli filmgoers got a lot more of the inside jokes.

when i saw the movie i thought the language sounded familiar. i don't speak hebrew, but between preparing for my bar mitzvah and going to synagogue, i can usually recognize when it's being spoken. i asked one of my friends who did a semester of college in israel and speak conversational hebrew, and she confirmed they were speaking hebrew. she said that the translation was correct, borat was just speaking hebrew and not kazakh (sp??) like it seemed. i wonder if someone who wasn't jewish could have gotten away with some of those jokes like cohen did. i doubt a white comedian could get away with chris rock's act - hell, that was half the premise of down to earth.

 

[CameronFrye]

when i saw the movie i thought the language sounded familiar. i don't speak hebrew, but between preparing for my bar mitzvah and going to synagogue, i can usually recognize when it's being spoken. i asked one of my friends who did a semester of college in israel and speak conversational hebrew, and she confirmed they were speaking hebrew. she said that the translation was correct, borat was just speaking hebrew and not kazakh (sp??) like it seemed. i wonder if someone who wasn't jewish could have gotten away with some of those jokes like cohen did. i doubt a white comedian could get away with chris rock's act - hell, that was half the premise of down to earth.

Yeah, it probably would've caused more of a stir. Actually, I'm one of the people who should be offended by that movie. The rodeo scene was filmed in my hometown. He made us look like a bunch of backwoods rednecks (oh wait, that's actually pretty true).

 

[DarksideAllstar]

I actually thought that all the "offensive" material in Borat was pretty tame. I laughed my ass off at the "Running of the Jew".

 

[docbiohazard]

I recieved the following reply from one of my state senators, and in typical noncommital politician-speak, I can't quite tell what she's trying to say, other than to punt the issue to the CMS and not take a definite stand on anything...

"Thank you for contacting me regarding physician payments for pathology services. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

On November 1, 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the 2007 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule. The rule does not finalize the proposals to amend the reassignment regulations to clarify contractual arrangements exceptions, nor the proposed changes to the self-referral regulations placing restrictions on what types of arrangements will qualify for the in-office ancillary services exception or the physicians' services exception to the physician self-referral prohibition. CMS will issue final regulations on these proposals at a later time after further consideration.

As Congress and CMS evaluate the impact of physician self-referrals, I will continue to work to ensure fair competition in hospital services and equal access to quality health care.

I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you."
Anyone else have a different read on that?

BH

 

[yaah]

My read would be: I am going to do what CMS tells me to do.

That, and "I ran this through fifteen lawyers and each one added another preposition to the sentence."

 

[DarksideAllstar]

That, and "I ran this through fifteen lawyers and each one added another preposition to the sentence."

Exactly.

 

[djmd]

On November 1, 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the 2007 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule. The rule does not finalize the proposals to amend the reassignment regulations to clarify contractual arrangements exceptions, nor the proposed changes to the self-referral regulations placing restrictions on what types of arrangements will qualify for the in-office ancillary services exception or the physicians' services exception to the physician self-referral prohibition. CMS will issue final regulations on these proposals at a later time after further consideration."

I like how they issued the 2007 final rule which DID NOT finalize, the proposed, amended, clarifications. They will issue FINAL regulations later.

So the 'current' final word is Good luck clearing this up.

 

[yaah]

Either that or "we're waiting to see whether we get some big time campaign donations on either side of the issue and/or this proves to be an important issue for the public like stem cell research, gay marriage, or celebrity adoptions which we can 'take a stand on'."