2016 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule

What's your take/opinions on this. Mine is it shouldn't change I know it's been messy but this isn't the dna even though I think dna is such a great test. Quantitative Drug Testing Should Not be Reduced to a Single Code. I sympathize with the pain doctors’ dilemma and don’t fault them for trying to do what is right. I’m sure there are unethical ones out there, but wealth envy should be placed aside until there is evidence that a particular doctor has overused testing for his own financial gain. Imagine trying to control your patient’s pain with opiates while that patient maintains a demanding driving schedule for his cargo truck. Would you be able to sleep at night? A recent survey showed 20% of healthcare workers were taking pain drugs or prescription drugs that could be addictive. Would you want to be held responsible for a nurse giving the wrong drug to a patient when she herself is on a pain drug?

The quantitative testing does give the doctors gross dosing information–that’s all they need. More importantly, confirmatory testing looks at metabolites and has greater sensitivity and specificity than IA screening. The real value though is in finding unexpected negatives and positives, confirming the IA results beyond any doubt.

More recently, U.S. health officials have raised serious concerns over the increase in heroin use and overdoses stemming from the use of prescription pain medication. A 2014 CDC study showed that between 2009 and 2012, there was a 74 percent increase in the number of people using heroin, and that about three out of four new heroin users began by using prescription pain medications.

If you have Netflix, watch the documentary American addict. More of the reason to keep it going and that is why I don't think it should change.

2016 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule