August 11, 2026
Enhancing Laboratory Management Operations Globally
Virus reactivation in acute and long COVID-19
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Transcript
Nick Lanyi
How the CAP represented pathologists with state governments this year. Get help complying with MIPS. And new research points to the cause of long COVID. These stories and more coming up next. This is Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Nick Lanyi. It's Tuesday, August 11th. The CAP advocates for pathologists year-round, not just at the federal level, but also with state legislatures and agencies. Many issues such as licensing, insurance, and health and safety actually take place at the state level. This year has been especially busy. One big win came in Virginia, as Dr. Bekra Yorke, assistant professor of clinical pathology at Houston Methodist and vice chair of the CAP's Federal and State Affairs Committee, explains.
Dr. Bekra Yorke
So I would say one very important state advocacy accomplishment this year was setting a new precedent. What we were seeing in Virginia was what we call in-network steering.
Nick Lanyi
Some insurers try to save money by steering tissue and blood samples to large out-of-state laboratories rather than local labs, even when the doctor prefers another in-network lab. This can cause delays and hurt patient care.
Dr. Bekra Yorke
This is the first state in which in-network steering has been addressed at the legislative level.
Nick Lanyi
The CAP also opposed proposed legislation in several states that would have mandated that patients be allowed to choose blood that is free of vaccines.
Dr. Bekra Yorke
To provide these services for patients for whom it is not medically necessary has multiple problems. This is an administrative burden for blood banks that does not improve the safety of the blood supply or improve patient care and outcomes. It increases skepticism unnecessarily about the safety of the blood supply.
Nick Lanyi
The CAP worked with the American Association of Blood Banks to stop the legislation in eight of nine states. Dr. Yorke stressed that state pathology societies are crucial partners with the CAP on these and other issues, but some states have stronger societies than others. She encouraged pathologists to reach out to CAP for resources to help build up a state pathology society where it's needed.
Dr. Bekra Yorke
Legislators, whether they're at the state level or in DC, want to hear from their constituents and that means we need to have involvement of pathologists on the ground across the country.
Nick Lanyi
Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has finalized its merit-based incentive payment scoring for 2026. While CMS made few changes this year, meeting the MIPS threshold will remain a challenge. The CAP's Pathologists Quality Registry can help practices find their best MIPS strategy. This week, the CAP is launching a new AI tool that can help answer MIPS questions. See the advocacy section of the CAP website for details. A free webinar next week, Enhancing Laboratory Management Operations Globally, is the last session of a three-part series sponsored by the CAP Foundation's Global Pathology Committee. This one will focus on regulatory compliance issues and managing risk to build a quality culture. It's scheduled for Tuesday, August 18th at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. You can register for the webinar and also view recordings of the first two sessions at the CAP Foundation website. And finally, the COVID-19 virus reawakens other dormant viruses, possibly leading to long COVID. That's according to a new study published last week in Nature. Using data from more than 1,100 COVID patients, researchers showed that COVID reactivates other viruses, including Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mono, and cytomegalovirus, a common herpes virus. While both viruses have already been linked to COVID, the new study found that they spark up even in patients with healthy immune systems. They also remain active even after COVID symptoms subside. This could explain why some people develop long COVID. Well, that's all for today. See the show notes for more information on today's stories. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with potentially interested parties. We'll be back Wednesday at 5 a.m. Eastern for another episode of the Daily Edition. I'm Nick Lanyi. Have a wonderful day.