The final Medicare physician fee schedule for 2016 delivered on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ July proposal of an overall increase in payment for pathologists and independent laboratories. The agency also fulfilled some pathologists’ fears by cutting payments for prostate biopsy services by 19 percent for the technical component and 18 percent for the global payment.

When a relatively good year on the Medicare pay side means treading water, laboratory consultants say it is all the more imperative for pathology groups to get the most out of their negotiations with private payers, hospitals, or accountable care organizations.

In the December CAP TODAY. Read the whole shebang.