Archived News & Information

Don't Try this At Home

April 2007
"The practice of medicine is comprised of many different specialties. Doctors train for over a decade to obtain the skills necessary to successfully practice medicine in one particular area. Plus they must continually stay abreast of the technological advances and ever-chaging protocols in their chosen specialty to ensure they are providing the best possible patient care..."

United Healthcare's Aggressive Marketing Campaign

April 2007
"The 10-year exclusive national agreement between United Healthcare (UHC) and Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) have both companies implementing aggressive marketing campaigns designed to encourage referring physicians to refer specimens to an in-network provider. ..."

Missing Referring Physicians' NPIs Can Be Costly

February 2007
"PSA worked diligently throughout 2006, and has now completed our efforts to obtain the National Provider Identifiers (NPI) for all PSA billing clients. We began testing and filing with NPIs in October 2006. While obtaining 400 NPIs was daunting, and the testing phase is even more challenging, there is something even more concerning that REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION..."

No Grace Period for New and Revised 2007 CPT-4 Codes

January 2007
"This is a reminder that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a policy change a couple of years ago eliminating the 90-day grace period for converting to the use of new procedure codes. Therefore, the following new and revised CPT-4 codes for 2007 are now required for all services provided on or after January 1, 2007..."

Congress Freezes Conversion Factor, but Pathology Reimbursement Still Hit Hard

December 2006
"As you know, recently Congress passed legislation which freezes the Conversion Factor used in calculating the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) at the 2006 level, effectively eliminating what would have been a 5% across the board reduction in Medicare reimbursement that CMS had planned for 2007. The same legislation also extended the "TC Grandfather" clause one year which allows independent labs to continue to bill Medicare directly technical component services they provide for certain "covered" hospitals..."

Reassignment and Physician Self-Referral Letter to CMS

October 2006
"On Monday October 9, 2006 PSA mailed the below letter to Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, regarding changes to the Medicare reassignment and physician self-referral rules.  PSA is continuallly working with CAP to build support for the prohibition of Pods, Condos, and Anatomic POL's..."

United Healthcare to Continue to Contract with Local Laboratories

October 2006
"According to a UnitedHealthcare press release, UnitedHealthcare will continue to contract with other regional and local laboratory service providers.  Please review these frequently asked questions for more information..."

Considerations for Outsourcing Billing Operations

March 2006
"The provision of billing services is a classic “make vs. buy” decision. Many physician groups have made the decision to outsource these functions to focus their efforts on the clinical aspects of their businesses. The complexity and technology required to conduct these activities are increasingly out of reach for most organizations. Without strong technical expertise in both Billing and IT providers run the risk of costly errors. Even with such in-house expertise, the risk of turnover in key personnel can devastate short-term cash flow..."

Dollars and Sense Add Up for PSA Cooperative

March 2005
"As it approaches its 10th anniversary in May, Pathology Service Associates, LLC, continues to broaden its base of back-office services and membership among small to mid-size pathology practices, enabling them to keep thriving in a competitive health care marketplace, say PSA leaders and members..."

PSA Achieves ACCME Accreditation to provide Continuing Medical Education Credits

November 2004
"PSA has been awarded the prestigious honor of Accreditation as a Provider by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). This recognition comes as a result of PSA's pursuit of excellence and service to its Affiliated Practices in the field of Continuing Medical Education programs and activities..."

PSA Featured in CAP Today - Taking on Goliaths, smaller practices find way to succeed

April 2003 "As a service company providing a full spectrum of sophisticated business solutions to entrepreneurial-minded pathology practices, Pathology Service Associates LLC, or PSA, is not so much an idea whose time has come as an idea that has kept pace with the times..."