News
This spring is a busy season at Aculabs.
Dr. Rita Khoury, our Medical Director, has been busy measuring and compiling new reference ranges to make your patient's results more meaningful.
Dr. Khoury has extrapolated the unique information contained within Aculabs computer system into five presentations in scientific journals. The subjects covered are Endocrine testing, Chemistry and Microbiology. Her presentation at the AAB annual convention in Orlando, Florida was enthusiastically received by the participants.
Beginning May 2007, we have hired two new consultants.
This will enlarge our professional staff and give us more experience in the field of Hematopathology and Microbiology.
Dr. Maureen Basius, Pathologist of Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, New Jersey and Dr. Vasilios Velmahos of JFK and Roosevelt Care, as well as Infectious Diseases Associates, P.A. in Edison, New Jersey were welcome additions.
We look forward to their input and believe they will bring to Aculabs a new and fresh look at what we are doing.
SPECIAL OPEN DOOR FORUM: Medicare Clinical Laboratory Services Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project—Monday, July 16, 2007
2:30pm-4:30pm Eastern Daylight Time
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting this Special Open Door Forum (ODF) to discuss the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Services Competitive Bidding Demonstration project. The demonstration is mandated by section 302(b) of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. The purpose of the demonstration is to determine whether competitive bidding can be used to provide quality laboratory services at prices below current Medicare payment rates.
Only laboratories meeting the requirements under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program are eligible to participate in the demonstration by statute. The demonstration uses Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to define the demonstration or competitive bid area (CBA). The demonstration will set competitively bid fees in the CBA for tests paid under the Medicare (fee for service) Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, with the exception of Pap smears, colorectal cancer screening tests (which are excluded from this demonstration by statute), and new tests added to the Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule during the course of the demonstration.
We have planned this Open Door Forum to share the DRAFT Bidder’s Package (posted on the project webpage at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DemoProjects
EvalRpts/MD/itemdetail.asp?filterType=
dual,%20data&filterValue=Upcoming
%20Demonstrations&filterByDID=2&
sortByDID3&sortOrder=ascending&item
ID=CMS1198949&intNumPerPage=10) and a tentative timeline for the project.
The DRAFT Bidder’s Package includes information about the bidding process and other operational policies. CMS will then moderate an open discussion where ODF participants will have an opportunity to interact with CMS and our research contractor, Research Triangle Institute, International (RTI) in an informal dialog about the DRAFT Bidder’s Package.
We look forward to your participation.
Open Door Forum Participation Instructions:
To participate in this special forum, please register on the website at http://registration.intercall.com/go/cms2 . Upon registering, you will receive further participation information and registration confirmation. The deadline for registration is 2:00 PM EDT, July 13, 2007. Note: Capacity is limited so register early. Registering via the web will ensure we can accommodate as many participants as possible.
For automatic emails of Open Door Forum schedule updates (E-Mailing list registration) and to view Frequently Asked Questions please visit our website at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/opendoorforums/
Thank you.