title: Elements of payment for hospital-based pathologist services.
abstract: This article describes the basic elements of payment for anatomic and clinical pathology services in hospitals in the United States today. Physician payments are not targeted for major cost containment efforts by Medicare and other payers, but the financial future of individual practitioners need not be bleak, as long as certain basic business principles of practice management are followed including becoming intimately familiar with the political and regulatory environment; staying current with respect to the business standards and conventions of the profession; using extreme care when developing initial or renewal compensation contracts with hospitals; and employing generally accepted pricing, insurance and diagnosis coding, and billing standards within one's practice.
authors.affiliation: Pathology Services, Mercy Hospital, Toledo, Ohio.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Padget
mesh_terms: D004469:Economics, Hospital; D005251:Fees, Medical; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D010336:Pathology / Q000191:economics*; D012955:Societies, Medical