The critical drivers behind change at healthcare organizations are improving the quality and timeliness of patient care and ensuring financial stability. One initiative that has the potential to contribute toward both of those goals is establishing an in-house laboratory.
There are numerous advantages to bringing testing in house. With many matching the key focuses of healthcare executives, setting up an in-house lab can be an attractive option for many organizations.
Deliver Better Patient Care, Faster
First and foremost, bringing lab testing in-house empowers you to deliver better and more timely care and an improved patient experience.
Rather than waiting days for test results to come back from an external laboratory, utilizing an in-house lab means you’ll be able to turnaround tests considerably quicker by eliminating delivery times and avoiding queues caused by tests from other facilities. In addition, you’ll no longer face situations which require you to send patients to a collection center for samples to be drawn.
By minimizing waiting times and delays, you’re able to make faster diagnoses, reduce patient visits, and start treatment sooner. Combining these benefits with the clarity of only dealing with one facility provides a simpler and improved patient experience.
Treat and Attract More Patients
With testing and treatment turnaround times reduced, you’re able to increase case volumes and treat more patients every day, benefiting your community and your finances. Finding patients may become easier, too. An improved patient experience and expedited testing are attractive selling points that give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Reduce Errors and Inaccuracies
Laboratories are busy environments, especially those receiving samples from many different sources. As a result, there is always the potential for errors to occur, such as inaccurate lab work, incorrect reports, or even the loss of samples during delivery or at the lab facility itself. In contrast, your own in-house lab won’t be juggling samples from external sources, and you’ll be able to make direct deliveries that cut out the potential for missing specimens. As a result, you can establish a smooth, efficient process that reduces the likelihood of errors.
Drive Treatment and Cost Efficiencies
When it’s decided that it’s important to treat a patient’s condition as soon as possible, waiting days for a test result to come back from an external lab can lead to intervention — such as drugs, diagnostic procedures, or surgeries — that the test results could prove to be unnecessary. Not only does this have an impact on the patient experience, but it could also have a financial impact for organizations being reimbursed through capitated payments, as unnecessary procedures will only further reduce already-tight margins. Conversely, with the much shorter turnaround times enabled by an in-house lab, unnecessary intervention, and the negative impacts it can have, are far less likely.
Another efficiency established by an in-house lab relates to spending. The costs levied by reference labs are inflated by their own expenses, such as sales and marketing, as well as courier fees. With in-house testing, you can avoid these costs and reinvest the savings in other areas of patient care.
Customize Test Menu and Capabilities
Bringing laboratory testing in house gives your organization more control. You’ll have the ability to customize panels and the targets of testing depending on what you’re looking for, so you can adapt your approach for each patient or to better fit your patient population. When you outsource testing, you’re restricted by the lab’s test menu, which can result in your organization paying to test for unnecessary targets.
Bringing Lab Testing In-House? We Can Help!
Swapping extended turnaround times, potential errors, and unnecessary spending for control over testing, cost efficiencies, and a competitive advantage makes the transition to an in-house lab an attractive option. If you decide that it’s the right move for your facility, we’d love to help you save at every stage of the project.
The CNECT contract portfolio provides exclusive discounts on all the equipment and services you need to build an in-house laboratory from the ground up. That includes savings on construction and maintenance work, as well as lab furniture and testing equipment and supplies.
Discover the impactful savings we can help you access while transitioning to in-house lab testing by contacting the CNECT team today.