Archived News & Information

Staying in the Game: Operating Your Practice as a Healthcare Business

December 2008
The healthcare industry continues to be faced with many challenges and economic pressures which require pathology practices to become more business–oriented, and often time have led them to seek the advice of experts in practice management and healthcare informatics to face these challenges and convert them into opportunities, where possible.

'09 Fee Schedule has Positive Impact on Pathology

November 2008
On Thursday, October 30, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2009 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule which included a 1.1% increase in the Conversion Factor that was mandated by Congress in July. The 1.1% increase to the Conversion Factor combined with the change in the way the budget neutrality adjustment is applied this year (spreading it across all procedures instead of applying it only to professional component, as they have the last two years) appears to have resulted in some fairly significant increases for BOTH the independent labs billing Global and TC-only services as well as the physician practices billing PC-only.

PSA Welcomes Back Jack Humphrey

October 2008
PSA would like to welcome back Jack H. Humphrey (MSHA FACMPE) to the PSA team. As a previous PSA employee, Jack held the position of Compliance Officer, but ultimately made the decision 4 ½ years ago to move to Florida to be with his family. Now returning to PSA, Jack will be contributing to the growth of PSA by using his consulting experience as a key resource in both sales and business development.

CAP Selects PSA to Offer New Discounted Pathology Coding Service

August 2008
August 12, 2008 - Florence, SC – Pathology Service Associates, LLC (PSA), a MED3OOO company with a nationwide network affiliation providing business services and support to independent pathology practices, has entered into an Agreement with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) to offer PSA’s PathLab Coding Solutions to CAP members at a discounted rate. PSA’s Pathology Coding Assistance will provide timely responses to pathology-related CPT coding inquiries.

Independent Labs Excluded from Participating in PQRI

August 2008
PSA received numerous calls from clients and industry contacts regarding this issue and therefore held a conference call on Thursday, August 7 to provide further details. Listed is a brief summary of some of the key points discussed during the call.

Congress Confirms Medicare Legislation

July 2008
June 16, 2008 - The Senate voted 70 to 26 to override the president's veto of the Medicare Improvement Act for Patients and Providers, following a successful override vote of the House earlier that day... 

MED3OOO and Mitsui & Co. Complete U.S. and Global Healthcare Partnership Agreement

June 2008
(PITTSBURGH) MED3OOO Group, Inc. (MED3OOO), a national leader in healthcare management and technology products and services for providers and employers, has entered into a partnership arrangement with Mitsui & Co. (USA), Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui)...

THE DARK REPORT: NPI Rules Slow Payments to Pathology Groups, Labs

June 2008
New rules requiring use of National Provider Identification (NPI) numbers took effect on May 23. Since then, Medicare Carriers and Payers nationwide have rejected claims from pathologists and other providers that do not comply with the new NPI rules. A missing NPI on just one claim will result in the front-end rejection of the entire submission file to Medicare. Cash flow to some pathology groups and other physicians has dropped. It may be another month or more before normal cash flow is restored. [PSA is quoted in this article]

ARUP Laboratories Partners with PSA, LLC

June 2008
ARUP Laboratories, a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and a leader in innovative laboratory research and development, announced today that it has entered into a business alliance with Pathology Service Associates, LLC (PSA), a nationwide network affiliation and a principal provider of business services and support to independent pathologist practices...

NPI Results in Significant Fluctuations in Cash Flow

May 2008
On May 21, 2008 the Healthcare Billing Managers Association (HBMA) delivered a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary addressing concerns regarding NPI implementation timeline. In the letter, HBMA expressed its concern regarding the ability of clearinghouses and commercial insurance payors to meet the May 23rd deadline and suggested extending the timeframe...

NPI and Electronic Claims: An Update on Unprepared Carriers

April 2008
According to CMS's published NPI timeline, effective May 23, 2008, they will accept only the NPI on all HIPAA electronic claims and send only the NPI on all paper remittances. This applies to both rendering and referring providers identified on the claims...

Pathology Consultants, Inc. Selects PSA, LLC a MED3OOO Company as their Business Partner

April 2008

(PITTSBURGH) MED3OOO Group, Inc. (MED3OOO), a national healthcare management and technology company, announces Pathology Consultants, Inc. of Michigan City, IN, recently selected PSA, LLC - a wholly-owned subsidiary of MED3OOO, for billing, marketing, and business support services...

CMS Approves Updated Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) for Use

April 2008
CMS recently approved the CMS-R-131 Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage as the replacement notifier for the general ABN (CMS-R-131-G) and laboratory ABN (CMS-R-131-L) as of March 3, 2008. Medicare has allowed a six-month transition period and all users are required to implement the new form by September 1, 2008. The new form is very similar to the ABN-L, but providers should be aware of a few changes...

PSA Spring 2008 Examiner (PDF)

March 2008
This issue of the PSA Examiner covers hot topics such as Dissecting PQRI, Congress Delaying Fee Schedule Cuts 6 Months - or Not?, TC Grandfather Provision Extended Through June 30, information on PSA's upcoming Pathology Business Confernece and Business Development Workshop, and much more. Click the link above to download the newsletter.

PSA is pleased to announce special pricing for Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. SYMPHONY® - One Touch H&E

December 2007
Eliminate dip-and-dunk H&E inefficiencies with SYMPHONY One Touch H&E. The SYMPHONY system completely automates every step of slide preparation with one touch operation from drying through the application of a glass coverslip. Slides are cured and immediately available for Pathologist interpretation upon completion...

2008 Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative

December 2007
We are writing to confirm your intention on whether or not your practice plans to participate in Medicare’s 2008 Pathology Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). Bulleted below are aspects of the PQRI which may assist in your decision making...

Cleared the House: Extension for 2008 MFS and Grandfather

December 2007
PSA has learned that Senate Bill S.2499, the "Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007", which was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate on Tuesday, also cleared the House yesterday by a vote of 411 to 3...

MED3OOO Connection Newsletter, Fall 2007

December 2007
Similar to PSA, MED3OOO distributes newsletters and email notifications containing general healthcare information as well as industry and company news. Attached please find the Fall 2007 Connection Newsletter, produced by MED3OOO, which includes articles published by PSA. This newsletter will be published quarterly and distributed electronically by PSA to each of our Affiliated Practices...

BCBS Settlement Instructions and Materials

September 2007
On April 27th of this year, representatives of physicians and state and local medical societies announced a settlement of the national class action lawsuit (known as Love, et al. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Ass'n, et al.) involving the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and most Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans and their current and former subsidiaries (BCBS). This settlement is another in a long line of similar settlements with various HMO plans over the last 3 years (previous settlements have already been completed with Aetna, Cigna, Health Net, Humana, and WellPoint/Anthem). The deadline for submitting a claim under the BCBS settlement is Friday, October 19, 2007...

Costly Coding, Documentation Errors

August 2007
PSA Coding Specialist Chappy Manning's article, 'Costly Coding, Documentation Errors' was featured in the August Edition of ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory magazine. For more information on costly coding and documentation errors, register for the upcoming PSA Audio Conference, 'Lost Dollars: Ten Most Costly Coding and Documentation Errors' to be presented by PSA's Certified Professional Coders...

MED3OOO Acquires Pathology Service Associates, LLC

July 2007
Pittsburgh, PA - MED3OOO, Inc., (MED3OOO) a national healthcare management and technology company, has acquired Pathology Service Associates, LLC (PSA). PSA, founded in 1995 by pathologists in South Carolina, is now the country’s largest provider specializing in pathology revenue cycle management (RCM) and practice management and marketing services. It currently services over 75 independent pathology practices in 27 states, representing approximately 400 pathologists. While pathology remains its primary focus, PSA has recently expanded its services to include radiology practices...

Uncertain Protection Under NPI Contingency Plan

May 2007
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently announced that it is implementing a contingency plan for covered entities (other than small health plans) who will not meet the May 23, 2007 deadline for compliance with the National Provider Identifier (NPI) regulations under HIPAA...

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..."