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Aculabs is proud to share that our laboratory director, Rita Khoury, MD., recently had the opportunity to present several papers at the College of American Pathologists (CAP) 2025 meeting. While at the conference, Dr. Khoury sat down and spoke about her findings regarding Vitamin D testing with Medscape, a leading healthcare publication. "Orders for
UnitedHealthcare (UHC) has announced upcoming significant changes that will directly impact reimbursement for routine laboratory testing. Beginning December 1, 2025, UHC will implement new reimbursement policies for Commercial, Individual Family Plans, and Medicare Advantage Plans. Per UnitedHealthcare's Reimbursement Policy Update Bulletin for September 2025 :Effective December 1, 2025, UnitedHealthcare will apply automated post-service, pre-payment policy enforcement to
It is becoming clear that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are systematically limiting access to laboratory testing through prior authorization requirements, creating a two-tiered healthcare system where beneficiaries face barriers that traditional Medicare patients never encounter. Prior authorization barriers create diagnostic delays, and the scope of this problem has exploded over the past decade. What
The routine use of molecular urine testing - particularly multiplex PCR assays - for diagnosing UTIs in nursing homes has become increasingly controversial. A recent McKnight’s article highlights a call on providers to stop using routine PCR urine tests for UTIs, "the most common infection in nursing homes," citing patient safety concerns, escalating costs,
Aculabs is proud to share that we have once again passed our re-inspection by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), maintaining our status as a fully accredited clinical laboratory. Did you know? "On-site inspections occur every two years using CAP Accreditation Checklists to assess compliance with program requirements." "Built on a foundation of pathologist
At Aculabs, we understand how crucial accurate diagnosis coding is to the success of claims submission and timely reimbursement. Unfortunately, we are seeing an increasing number of claim denials from payors due to the use of "invalid" primary diagnosis codes. What Are Invalid Primary Diagnosis Codes? An "invalid" primary diagnosis code typically refers to one that
On July 23, 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) message to inform healthcare providers, laboratory professionals, healthcare facility administrators, and health departments about a critical shortage of Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC blood culture media bottles. BD Diagnostics, Inc. has reported an interruption in the
Aculabs' clinical lab director, Rita Khoury, MD, recently enjoyed the opportunity to sit down and speak with Market Leaders, a podcast hosted by the national healthcare publication McKnights Home Care, about TB Gold testing and the strategies laboratories like Aculabs utilize for long-term care facilities. From McKnights' website: Long-term care residents are at
Anemia is a common condition in the geriatric population. Several studies have shown that the prevalence of anemia increases with age, with a notable rise starting at the age of 65 and a significant increase after the age of 80.To diagnose anemia, physicians heavily rely on the complete blood count (CBC), specifically looking at hemoglobin
We are thrilled to introduce a series of powerful enhancements to our web portal, designed specifically to empower nursing home facilities in their cost-saving endeavors. EXCEPTION WARNINGS & RESTRICTIONS With this update, users can now receive instant pop-up messages whenever an Exception Test is ordered. The notification provides essential details about the potential financial