January 16, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has successfully reached a settlement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the Medical Center’s self-reported mistaken referral of a limited number of proficiency test samples to other hospital laboratories. The samples were not patient specimens, and at no time was patient care affected.
Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center will continue to provide high quality lab services with no interruption. Ohio State will continue to own, operate and manage all of its laboratory locations and will maintain Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification.
Larry Anstine, CEO of The Ohio State University Hospital, said the settlement allows the important mission of the hospital’s lab to continue. “Last year the labs performed more than nine million tests and many of those tests are unique and not widely available at other testing facilities,” said Anstine. “We are grateful to CMS for its willingness to work toward a resolution that best meets the needs of our patients and the community.”
In addition to uninterrupted lab service, the settlement includes additional training for lab staff in proficiency testing, a monetary payment of $268,000 and appointment of a new medical director for the laboratory.
Dr. Daniel Sedmak, a professor of pathology with more than 30 years of experience in anatomic and clinical pathology, including 26 years of service at Ohio State, has been named as the new medical director of the laboratory.
The Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center’s commitment to providing the highest-possible quality of care to patients is central to its core mission, and its labs are widely recognized for providing comprehensive and high quality testing of patient samples. In July 2012, after the errors were self-reported, the labs were fully accredited by the College of American Pathologists for another two years.
Contact: Marti Leitch, Medical Center Public Affairs and Media Relations, 614-293-3737 or Marti.Leitch@osumc.edu