October 2023

October 23, 2023

Lab data is a powerful yet untapped resource, but many labs don’t have the time or the tools to extract the true value of their data. Yet, there are endless possibilities available in the data your lab produces and you can easily access it when you have the right tools.

Watch this on-demand, 30-minute webinar to learn how hc1 has been helping labs leverage their data to overcome the challenges that stand in the way of meeting their goals. hc1 Directors of High Value Care, Dawn Seymour and Adam Sajewich, present “Doing More With Less: How labs can better utilize their data to drive superior outcomes.”

We encourage all lab decision-makers to watch the webinar here and plan to learn how your lab can achieve superior outcomes with your lab’s data.

We asked Dawn and Adam to share what viewers can expect by watching this webinar.

Dawn Seymour Adam Sajewich
Director of High Value Care, hc1 Director of High Value Care, hc1

Why is this webinar relevant?

Dawn: Labs are being asked to do much more with fewer and fewer resources while producing the expected results timely. It’s amazing how it can affect your business when you have access to the data you need. Data helps uncover opportunities for improvement. However, managing lab data is monumentally difficult without the right experience and necessary resources. We show that resources are available and labs are using these resources and seeing impressive results.

Adam: Lab and IT professionals are stretched thin. Labs probably already know what they want and need to do, but they’re blocked because they don’t have the time, tools or resources to achieve their goals. This results in staff burnout and sometimes a decrease in customer service quality. Lab data is one of the most valuable assets the laboratory has at its disposal and we want to show labs how utilizing that data can resolve many of their pain points.

What viewers can expect to learn?

Dawn: We share how our clients tackle issues such as laboratory staffing, test utilization, real-time analytics, third-party sendout tests, root cause analysis, lab outreach, client retention and workflow automation.

Adam: We provide specific examples of ways hc1 clients have optimized their operations, lowered costs and improved patient outcomes. We also preview our upcoming solution to help labs proactively optimize staffing levels through AI-powered insights.

Who should watch this webinar?

Dawn: This webinar will benefit anyone responsible for lab operations (lab managers, lab directors) who is short on staff, budget and time. If you think about the time you spend throughout the day manipulating, pulling or requesting data, you’re not operating at full efficiency.

Adam: Lab executives who are charged with developing strategies to increase profitability or decrease spending, all while improving operations, will benefit from this webinar. We want to help these folks unlock real-time lab insights to help optimize lab spend and drive both customer and employee retention.

Are you ready to start a conversation? If you have additional questions, please get in touch with us at info@hc1.com.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ginger Hart has served as the Events Manager at hc1 since 2021. Before joining hc1, Ginger worked in event management in the pharma industry. Before entering healthcare, Ginger was an Events Manager at Google HQ in Silicon Valley, CA, for 11 years. She currently lives in Zionville, Indiana.

October 18, 2023

Sometimes, it requires a proverbial village to fully identify the trust and integrity an organization has always had in place and upheld. To further promote that dedication to security to hc1® current and potential clients, hc1 sought to attain the highest level of trust and assurance awareness that customers come to count on and have unwavering confidence in.

A village of hc1 team members worked tirelessly for over a year to ensure the hc1 Platform®, along with the hc1 corporate headquarters located in Indianapolis, secured the HITRUST Risk-based, 2-year (r2) certification for information security. This certification allows hc1 to further demonstrate to labs and health systems that it remains at the forefront of industry best practices for information risk management and compliance.

Why HITRUST?

The Health Information Trust Alliance Common Security Framework (HITRUST CSF®) serves to unify security controls based on aspects of US federal law (such as HIPAA and HITECH), certain state-specific laws, and other industry-standard compliance frameworks into a single comprehensive set of baseline security and privacy controls, built specifically for healthcare needs.

Instead of pursuing lesser certifications, hc1 decided to go straight to the highest level by setting sites on achieving the HITRUST Risk-based, 2-year (r2) certification. “HITRUST is widely regarded as the gold standard for information protection assurances, enabling us to validate how seriously we are about delivering healthcare ethically and securely to our current and future customers,” said Shelly Simeone, SVP of legal and chief compliance officer at hc1. “We also selected the HITRUST certification because it leverages numerous security and privacy-related regulations, standards and frameworks–including NIST and HIPAA for certification,” Simeone emphasized.

Watch the video below for the complete interview.

“HITRUST is a rigorous program that goes beyond other third-party certifications and has specific controls that cover numerous areas within information security, such as risk management, data loss prevention and access to control, to name just a few. An actual third-party, HITRUST-approved assessor completes the review on behalf of the organization. In addition, there is also a meticulous policy and procedures and testing process assuring that all proper controls are in place,” said Simeone.

hc1 Director of Compliance and Risk Management, Chris Toth, added, “hc1 has 19 different domains that are tested and reviewed by HITRUST and all 19 of those domains are approved.”

hc1 was Built Specifically for Healthcare

Both the hc1 Platform® and the hc1 organization have the advantage of being built from the ground up for healthcare. Nationwide, clinical laboratories and health systems trust hc1 with their data. This dedication to healthcare means that protecting the integrity of customers’ sensitive information has always been an hc1 priority.

System security is critical because of the data collection, data content serving and reporting activities conducted in the hc1 Platform. In addition, cloud-based delivery often raises concerns for information security. The HITRUST-certified hc1 Platform’s architecture and design follow industry-standard best practices for security design to address these concerns.

hc1 has been designed for and runs completely in AWS on HIPAA-compliant systems and is covered by its Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with AWS. The hc1 solution leverages all the available security features of AWS and is built to current best practices using a three-tier architecture.

Trust and Assurance

hc1’s Amazon Web Services (AWS)-based cloud platform allows laboratories, healthcare providers, acute care centers, and other healthcare organizations to focus on improving their business rather than handling security and IT issues, providing customers with secure, scalable, reliable data access and outstanding performance.

The safety of customer data is paramount for the entire company, and hc1’s meticulous security processes and tools demonstrate commitment to protecting this data. hc1 proactively protects customer data and provides the best possible security through the use of stringent procedures.

Download this whitepaper to learn more about hc1’s HITRUST commitment.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Lorri Markum is the marketing manager for hc1 Insights and has over two decades of corporate and nonprofit marketing leadership experience. Lorri specializes in B2B marketing and SEO optimization. Before joining hc1, she was the marketing manager for a nonprofit healthcare organization serving 40 counties throughout Indiana.

October 16, 2023

In over a decade of working with labs, hc1 has developed the technology and expertise to make extracting insights from lab data quick and easy. The hc1 Lab Insights Platform™, which includes a suite of analytics and operations solutions, connects lab and healthcare data sources to uncover actionable signals that inform decisions. By creating a foundation of accurate and real-time insights, we open a world of opportunity for labs to optimize operations, reduce costs and improve care.

However, labs often ask us why they should partner with hc1 when they already have access to analytics and reports in their LIS.

While it is true that many LIS vendors also offer analytics capabilities, these tools are limited in nature and fail to provide the actionable insights lab leaders need to navigate today’s business challenges. hc1 offers a deeper level of analysis and a more robust set of tools to answer your biggest questions and streamline your most manual workflows.

hc1 vs. LIS: An Analogy

Think of your LIS as your primary care physician (PCP). Like a great PCP helps a person address the majority of their health questions and issues, your LIS helps you run the majority of your day-to-day operations. But when you have a need that warrants a specialist, your PCP works within their care network to connect you to the right expert.

Think of hc1 as one of those specialists – your cardiologist, for example. Just like the heart is the engine for the body, data insights are the engine for a laboratory. hc1’s solutions connect to your other internal systems, sitting at the center of your organization to ensure your operations are running efficiently and you have the data you need to make informed decisions.

Why Your LIS Isn’t Enough

Your LIS may offer reporting capabilities, but chances are they aren’t providing you with the insights you need. They may be built on an outdated, complex user interface that is difficult to use. They may not integrate well with your other systems, preventing you from analyzing external data and gaining a holistic view of your operations. Unless you pay the vendor some astronomical project fee, they may not allow for customization or advanced data analysis.

Just like your PCP isn’t a cardiology expert, your LIS vendor isn’t an analytics expert. You wouldn’t let your PCP perform open heart surgery, so why would you depend on your LIS vendor to be the sole provider of your most important business insights?

The Vendor with Analytics AND Laboratory Expertise

If you have a major business issue to address, hc1 can help diagnose it and solve it better than any other vendor out there. Not only do we have over a decade of experience providing laboratories with technology solutions created to serve their needs, but we also have a wealth of lab expertise across all areas of our company. From product development to sales and marketing to our advisory team, hc1 has numerous individuals with laboratory experience, ensuring we’re always focused on solving labs’ biggest problems.

Ready to unlock the power of your lab data? Request a demo today and learn how hc1 works together with your LIS to help you deliver superior outcomes.

___________________________________________________________________________

Mackin Bannon is the product marketing manager for hc1. Before joining hc1 in 2022, Mackin held various marketing roles before settling on product marketing as a focus. During the workday, he enjoys bringing stories to life in clear and creative ways. In his free time, he enjoys following his favorite sports teams, collecting vinyl records and exploring Indianapolis.

October 26, 2023

In today’s fast-paced world, we have become used to multitasking in our personal and professional lives. Thanks to mobile devices and global networks, we are always connected to work, family, friends, news, and society. However, this constant connection can make it difficult to relax.

Professionally, we often take on so much that we fail to recognize the extent of our burdens and how they may negatively impact our productivity. Like the iconic I Love Lucy episode in the candy factory, the process initially seems smooth and easy until it’s not.

As an industry leader in identifying real-time insights and risk signals from complex laboratory data and working closely with labs nationwide of all sizes, hc1 has encountered countless stories from lab leaders voicing their top issues regarding their lab operations. Inadequate staffing is at the top of their list.

Even before the COVID pandemic, hospitals and clinical labs struggled to find sufficient staffing for their daily needs. Since the pandemic, the ability to juggle staffing demands has been insurmountable. Yet leaders have forged ahead, making do with what they have, overworking themselves and their staff out of necessity. Burnout and lack of retention have become residual effects of not having enough hands on deck to fulfill the high demands and needs, causing even more problems.

Leaders have become even more focused on getting the immediate tasks completed, pushing harder, demanding more and taking on more themselves. As a result, they have begun dropping the proverbial “candy.” The quality of their productivity has waned and expenses have increased as they unconsciously settle for just getting things out the door, checked off the list, etc., resulting in true capabilities being sacrificed. Playing catch-up is an endless cycle when no resolutions are available to address the root problem.

Help for Overwhelmed Lab Managers

hc1 took this issue of lab understaffing to heart and developed a solution that identifies under-optimized staff scheduling and offers proactive recommendations to resolve problems before they happen.

hc1 Workforce Optimization™ helps eliminate the overwhelming aspect of lab management, allowing lab leaders to feel less overwhelmed by predicting demand for lab services across the organization and suggesting specific, department-level resource adjustments. Through this optimization, labs can minimize sendout and short-term staffing costs, decrease the staff turnover and burnout caused by understaffing and reduce TaT to improve patient outcomes.

Feeling overwhelmed may never be completely removed from the professional lives of healthcare and lab leaders, but having the right tools to project future needs can allow a smoother journey and higher quality outcomes for all.

Feeling overwhelmed as a lab manager? You don’t have to go it alone

Watch our on-demand, 30-minute webinar Doing More With Less and learn how hc1 can help you successfully become a more optimized lab despite fewer available resources.

____________________________________________________________________________________

It’s the easiest way to stay informed about trending topics related to hc1, such as lab insights, events, human interest and culture. As an hc1 Blog Subscriber, you will receive an email at the end of each month containing the latest blog highlights and a subscriber-only exclusive article as a “thank you” for subscribing!

Our team of industry professionals share their expertise, experiences and updates through valuable content, insights and first-hand knowledge.

Stay connected and informed! Click the Subscribe button on this page to become an hc1 blog subscriber today and bring the news directly to your inbox.