Four Medicare diagnostic test panels planned for 1998 to address over-use of current 22-test panel.
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
HCFA TO ESTABLISH FOUR NEW CLINICAL LAB AUTOMATED TEST PANELS BY JAN. 1, 1998 to replace the current 22-test panel for which the Health Care Financing Administration provides Medicare reimbursement. The administration created the new "hepatic function," "electrolyte," "basic metabolic," and "comprehensive metabolic" panels to address concerns about overutilization and to provide reimbursement for only those tests in an automated profile which meet Medicare reimbursement criteria.