Author: hc1

By Sherri Ozawa
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February 13, 2025

What is Anemia?

Anemia is a condition that develops when your blood produces a lower-than-normal amount of healthy red blood cells. If you have anemia, your body does not get enough oxygen-rich blood, leading to weakness and fatigue.

The Impact of Anemia

Anemia affects one third of the world’s population, disproportionately women and children, even in developed nations. Most of these cases of anemia are caused by iron deficiency, which is widely overlooked but easily corrected.

Anemia and iron deficiency have profound effects on people’s health and wellness. Fatigue, depression, poor mental focus, and impaired performance of daily activities at home and at work are just a few of the symptoms that are often ignored or attributed to other causes.

Anemia in Mothers and Surgical Patients

The impact of anemia on women of childbearing age is even more dramatic. Iron deficient expectant mothers – which may be up to half of pregnant women – have riskier pregnancies, and the babies born to them have lifelong behavioral, neurological, academic, and even social consequences.

Additionally, 40 percent or more of elective surgery patients have anemia, leading to poorer outcomes from many types of surgery.

Improving Anemia Management Care

The good news is that anemia is a problem that can often be corrected if healthcare organizations operationalize systems to detect and treat anemia, especially in preoperative and pregnant patients. This improves clinical outcomes while also offering direct economic advantages, such as increased revenue from IV Iron treatment.

Explore how the unmatched combination of clinical expertise partnered with powerful technology solutions offered by hc1 aids your organization in realizing the very real benefits to implementing an organized anemia management program.

 

Our patented, clinician-built anemia management software, MyBloodHealth®, automates the anemia management process to ensure individualized care is delivered. If you’re interested in learning more, contact us today for a free demonstration.

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Sherri Ozawa, MSN, RN, serves as hc1’s Director, Clinical Operations and Delivery for Comprehensive Patient Blood Management. She is a founding member and past president of the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management (SABM) and has been a leader in bloodless medicine for more than two decades. She has lectured nationally and internationally with a focus on the creation and implementation of sustainable, organized patient blood management programs. She has published numerous, peer-reviewed abstracts, posters, book chapters, and articles in the field and continues to be actively involved in research in her field. She worked extensively with regulatory agencies and other academic organizations such as the Joint Commission to analyze better practices for the delivery and creation of organized patient blood management programs.

By hc1
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January 28, 2025

A clinical laboratory strategy, like that of any industry, must adapt to change. Strategic planning has to consider changes in the workforce, in technology, and in demand. As a leader in clinical laboratory strategy, see the 5 steps hc1 suggests for increasing profitability in your lab.

1. Optimize Lab Performance

The first step in optimizing a hospital’s lab performance begins with understanding the lab’s current position. At hc1, we recommend benchmarking to see the entire picture which will provide insight into financials, operations, and efficiencies. Once the benchmark is conducted and assessed, the next step is to identify resources that should stay the same or change. The result of optimizing lab performance should lead to lower costs, quicker turnaround, new partnerships, or changes in resource management.

2. Leverage Strategic Technology

Technology has provided innovation, efficiency, and structure to hospital labs. When used well, technology can decrease labor costs, and increase delivery time. But what does it mean to use technology well in a hospital lab?

As technology evolves daily, it is critical to assess the needs of today and the future. hc1 has worked with countless labs to assess how technology can facilitate efficient workflows and processes and implement our own cloud-based software solutions. Making strategic decisions about technology in labs can make a difference for overall performance.

3. Streamline Lab Processes

Lab processes are ever-changing. With personnel and partnerships constantly evolving, it is crucial to have standard processes that reflect efficiency and adaptability. There are several questions that one may ask regarding streamlining processes in the lab. What resources will help? What is the critical path to success? Who are the key players?

All these questions can be answered after a benchmark has been conducted and reviewed.

4. Increase Personnel Productivity

When it comes to hospital labs, our hc1 team believes that productivity is essential for understanding lab profitability. Increasing productivity of lab technicians and other personnel can lead to more work executed in a shorter amount of time. Who wouldn’t want that?

However, this is easier said than done. For team members to be more productive, they must be equipped with the right technology, clean data, and clear communication channels.

5. Provide Quality Service

Service is at the heart of hospitals and hospital labs. Patients and practitioners are reliant on lab results being delivered in a timely fashion. It goes without saying that the quality of service can directly impact profitability. To ensure continued growth, it is important to monitor patient and team satisfaction with the service provided.

 

If you’re interested in meeting with one of our lab experts to discuss ways to increase profitability in your lab, contact us today for a free consultation.

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In Collaboration with Becker’s Healthcare.

In hospitals and health systems, patient blood management matters. Blood management affects patient outcomes and impacts healthcare organizations’ bottom lines. There are now opportunities to disrupt the status quo in blood management, with benefits for patients and provider organizations.

At a session sponsored by hc1 at the Becker’s 10th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, BG Porter, former CEO of Accumen, facilitated a discussion on breakthrough technologies in healthcare with panelists:

  • Jason Carney, VP/GM, comprehensive Patient Blood Management
  • Gary Catarella, VP, enterprise lab, Atrium Health
  • Michael Harris, MD, founder, MTH Health


Three key takeaways were:

1. Identifying anemia prior to surgery improves health outcomes and equity.

Patient blood management is an often overlooked opportunity to improve health outcomes. The number one reason for hospital transfusions is anemia. Anemia is an independent modifiable risk factor associated with increased morbidity and mortality, longer length of stay, readmissions and extra PT visits for surgical patients. These factors all raise the economic burden of anemia.

Addressing anemia prior to surgery improves outcomes, lowers costs and can improve health equity. “To deliver equitable health care, you need to identify and treat anemia in all patients prior to surgery, giving everyone access to optimal outcomes,” Mr. Porter said.

2. Executive leadership buy-in is key to lasting change.

Anemia is a multidisciplinary issue with a lot of moving pieces for patients and providers. Having a standard workflow is key to identifying patients with anemia prior to surgery; however, changing existing processes can be a challenge, as new blood management programs often disrupt the status quo.

Strong change management skills and leadership are critical to any new program’s success. In one example, Dr. Harris approached change at Englewood Health in New Jersey by gaining the buy-in of both executive leadership and physicians by demonstrating clear cost savings and increased margins along with better outcomes. In addition, the program introduced new revenue opportunities focused on helping patients prior to surgery and enhanced Englewood’s reputation.

Similarly, at Atrium Health, a health system with more than 40 hospitals and 38 laboratory sites, implementing hc1 blood management program offers the opportunity over four years to decrease red cell transfusions by 60,000, decrease costs by $50 million and improve revenues by $14 million.

The project just kicked off this year, but to drive executive physician support, rather than emphasize the cost benefits, Mr. Catarella used data and case studies to explain the value proposition and drive adoption.

“Your doctors want to do the right thing for their patients and they want to be better than their neighbors and ultimately drive growth in their hospitals,” Dr. Harris said. “It’s an extraordinary growth opportunity for your organization to be out in front of patient blood management.”

3. A strong partnership increases program success.

Understanding that a blood management and anemia program could get back much-needed clinician time, Atrium embarked on its patient blood management program at a time of severe workforce shortages. To accelerate the process and build a solid foundation to support success, Atrium needed a strong change management partner, which they found in hc1. “The hc1 team . . . is boots on the ground. They are sitting across the table with you and your leaders and your physicians and nurses, face-to-face, helping you build that programmatic infrastructure,” Mr. Catarella said.

hc1 MyBloodHealth® solution uses a high reliability, purpose-built process and a data-rich analytics platform. MyBloodHealth connects to your EMR and using proprietary algorithms, identifies anemic patients who can be treated before surgery, sends them to a virtual waiting room to triage the their severity of anemia, analyzes the time frame to surgery and determines whether treatment is recommended..

hc1 clients see between a four to six times ROI on their investment, including a $1,250 per DRG savings and a $600 to $700 net margin increase for patients treated for anemia.

Patient blood management leads to better patient outcomes and results in substantial cost savings for healthcare organizations. However, any successful implementation requires strong change management skills and leadership and physician support. hc1 combines people, process, and technology to disrupt health system processes for the better.

 

Learn more about how hc1 can design a Comprehensive Patient Blood Management program to meet the unique needs of your hospital or health system, ensuring a swift and efficient path to cost savings while elevating patient outcomes.

By Brent Bolton
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This article was originally published and written in Laboratory Economics Volume 19, No. 5 May 2024 issue.

Introduction

Most health systems and their labs remain under financial pressure due to rising employee costs and inflation. As a result, they are looking to cut costs anywhere they can, including reference (aka send-out) testing expenses.  hc1 negotiates about 15-20 reference lab agreements per year for health systems and hospitals.

Below is a summary of some strategies for negotiating your lab’s next reference testing contract from hc1’s Brent Bolton, VP/GM, Strategic Partnerships.

What is the average percentage of hospital lab budget spent on reference testing?

Lab department costs average about 4% of the total hospital operating cost budget. And about 30% of the lab budget is spent on lab supplies. Reference testing is around 20% of overall lab sup­plies cost. So, reference testing represents an average of roughly 6% of the hospital lab budget and less than 1% of the average hospital’s total expenses.

Who else besides ARUP, Labcorp, Mayo and Quest should an RFP go to?

Depending on where the hospital lab is located, it may also want to consider regional labs. A few examples include Wisconsin Diagnostic Labs (WDL), TriCore, Sonic Healthcare, BioReference and Cleveland Clinic.

In addition, it’s good to get pricing from some of the secondary/specialty labs that focus on eso­teric testing, toxicology testing and other labs that do third-party testing. Some specialty tests will be lower-cost and have a quicker turnaround time when ordered directly from a secondary lab like NeoGenomics. As a result, it often makes sense to carve out certain specialty tests from the primary reference lab agreement.

What length of term should a new reference testing contract be?

Three years is generally the average reference lab contract duration. Five years is okay if you can get significant discounts. There should never be volume commitments with the reference lab agree­ment; it should be a fee schedule only with fixed pricing. Auto renewals are also acceptable as long as there is pricing protection.

How many tests should be included in an RFP?

All your send-out tests should be included. This might result in an RFP with 1,000+ tests.

Will FDA regulation of LDTs cause hospitals to send out more tests to reference labs?

Under the FDA’s initial proposed regulations, we thought the outcome was going to be cata­strophic for some hospital labs. They would have had to send out all of their LDT testing to one of the national reference labs. With the final FDA ruling, there appears to be a lot more flexibility. It looks like hospitals will be exempt from having to file premarket applications with the FDA for their existing LDTs.

What about new esoteric tests that are introduced after a reference testing contract is signed?

Labs must consistently monitor and manage send-out testing to ensure new expensive testing does not fall through the cracks. For any tests with significant volume or high pricing, request multiple bids to compare with the primary reference lab pricing even after the primary reference lab agree­ment is signed. Many of the reference labs will allow for annual pricing reviews on the testing that was not included in the original RFP, especially if this new testing is increasing volumes and revenues to the reference lab. If the agreement is done well, this new testing can help to get rebates or volume discounts which will minimize the overall cost increase exposure.

What are some tips to help make sure that hospitals don’t overpay for reference testing?

Conducting an RFP with multiple reference labs that are legitimate options will help ensure hospi­tals are not overpaying for reference testing.

One cost that can sneak up on a hospital lab is miscellaneous testing. The physician may choose to send testing to the primary reference lab but specify that it is performed at a specialty lab (com­monly known as a pass through). The primary reference will then mark up that testing and also charge handling fees. It will be reported on the hospital lab’s bill as a miscellaneous test. Hospital labs need to monitor these miscellaneous testing codes, descriptions and fees and see if that testing can be performed at the primary reference lab instead.

Could pricing for reference tests simply be set at a percentage of the Medicare CLFS rates?

Yes, it is possible, but the reference labs will never willingly change to this transparent pricing model on all testing without federal regulatory enforcement. Reference labs commonly set pricing based on several factors including total revenue projections and test volumes; and not necessarily on a test-by-test basis. As a result, the biggest determinant to pricing is the amount of reference lab competition available to each hospital lab client.

What are your thoughts on using benchmarking pricing in the RFP process?

Most benchmark pricing is just averages on top of other averages, and the data is often outdated. It generally does not account for market changes, rebates, or the hidden value adds that a vendor can provide. A health system may feel they are getting a good deal — even when they are not. The only truly accurate benchmark pricing comes from utilizing a third party (e.g., hc1) that sees real time national market data from every reference lab, every GPO, and every size hospital.

Can you provide average pricing data on some commonly referred tests?

Average pricing per test is extremely subjective, as it is based on the performing testing lab and location, but most notably the pricing is based on the per test volumes sent to the reference lab. It is more important to look at the total cost of aggregated reference lab testing costs versus focusing on individual test codes, unless, of course, there are significant pricing outliers. Pricing for testing can range significantly given the variables I’ve mentioned. For example, a chlamydia trachomatis/ neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/NG) amplified probe can range anywhere from $15-$40.

What kind of savings can hospitals expect when sending out an RFP for reference testing?

Savings are dependent on each situation and each hospital lab’s level of leverage. As I mentioned earlier, true competition is the best driver for aggressive savings (and that’s more than just sending out RFP’s). That said, we generally see savings of 10%+ for contract renewals with an incumbent reference lab and up to 25% if a reference lab vendor change is made (which can be a heavy lift for the hospital as it involves a lot of scarce IT resources).

What makes the IT transition to a new reference lab so difficult?

It’s difficult because health system IT resources are generally constrained, thereby creating a bottleneck. Every individual send-out test has to be built into the LIS, and there could be thou­sands of tests that the health system or hospital sends to the new primary reference lab. Each one of those tests will have a test code, description, reference range for each result, specimen collection information, etc. that needs to be added to ensure test orders and results are entered accurately.

Can’t hospitals simply take advantage of reference testing contracts through their GPO?

Yes. Hospitals can always utilize the GPO pricing tiers that they qualify for, and that will prevent them from overpaying on reference lab testing. But to maximize savings, value adds, and create favorable contract terms, the best way is to create an agreement between the hospital and the refer­ence lab with a fee schedule that is custom tailored for the hospital. As mentioned earlier, the best way to do that is to have a competitive bidding process that looks at each hospital’s unique test mix, volumes, service level requirements, and consolidation/standardization opportunities. The GPO contract will not take all those particulars into account. It’s also worth noting that a refer­ence lab fee schedule is one of the most important agreements that a hospital can negotiate, so it’s always worth the effort to do so.

 

Learn more about how hc1 can work alongside your organization to make sure you receive the best reference test pricing. 

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Brent Bolton, MBA, CPSM is VP, Strategic Partnerships for hc1. Brent is a Supply Chain and Materials Management expert with over 20 years’ experience in the manufacturing and healthcare industry. He is results driven, and has a proven track record of cost reduction, continuous process improvement, and strategic partnerships.​ Brent has an MBA from Point Loma Nazarene University and a BS in Business Management with an emphasis in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State University. Brent is an Adjunct Professor for the College of Business at San Diego State University, teaching graduate courses in management of operations and supply chain systems. He is a Certified Professional in Supply Chain (CPSM), and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

By Mackin Bannon
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September 18, 2024

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Precision care will only be as good as the tests that guide diagnosis and treatment.” One way to ensure patients are getting the best tests for them is through guidelines-driven, appropriate test utilization. 

Approximately 70 percent of medical decisions are based on pathology and laboratory test results. Many pathology and laboratory tests, however, are ordered without sufficient information to be specific to the patient’s needs.

Insights as part of the workflow enables precision care

Thousands of tests are available and the guidelines around how those tests should be used and for whom changes regularly. Our healthcare providers cannot possibly keep up with this massive database of lab testing information and then tailor it to the specific patient’s needs. As hc1 CEO Brad Bostic has said, “They are not cyborgs; they cannot remember every single thing or keep up-to-date on every single new thing.”

Lab testing is the single highest-volume medical activity, yet 21% of diagnostic tests are misused or even overlooked. The challenge health systems face is two-fold: first, they must identify the root cause of inefficient or wasteful practices that include high-cost, low-value, duplicative and antiquated test ordering, and second, they must identify missed opportunities to deliver the right test to the right patient at the right time to avoid rehospitalizations, ER visits and other consequences.

hc1 strongly advocates for technology that puts the ability to deliver precision healthcare to all patients at the provider’s fingertips as part of their regular workflow. This means having all of the latest test and prescription information and the patient’s health history, genetics and lifestyle information readily available to be able to choose the optimal tests and treatments based on their unique needs and conditions.

Insights make test utilization committees more effective

Many organizations have already established committees focused on improving laboratory stewardship, but often their efforts are slowed by the inability to access the right insights into test ordering practices so that they can take targeted action to effect change. 

With over 2.3 trillion gigabytes of data generated every year in healthcare, there is a lot of information to consider when identifying test utilization outside of guidelines. With that data housed in separate and often siloed locations, a method to ingest, organize and normalize it all is necessary to derive meaningful and actionable insights.

Successful lab stewardship committees have a strong, visible commitment from leadership with sufficient human, financial and IT resources allocated. With the right knowledge and tools, they can find inefficiencies and eliminate them with policies, education and technology. The savings that can be realized through implementing an effective program can more than make up for the expense of putting the appropriate resources and team in place to do so.

When structured and supported well, a lab stewardship committee organizes and guides optimal, patient-centric lab testing. Estimates project that health systems can reduce costs up to $5 billion per year just by eliminating redundant tests. Even more savings, and patient satisfaction, can be realized through increasing the use of appropriate tests that diagnose diseases early when treatment can be more effective.

Insights enable health systems to take action

hc1 PrecisionDx Advisor™ is a comprehensive solution that includes both strategic guidance and cloud-based technology to launch an effective utilization program. PrecisionDx Advisor pulls lab testing data directly from the lab information system and checks it against a set of guidelines to identify misutilized testing. We start from a core set of guidelines based on Choosing Wisely® recommendations, then customize them to align with your priorities. 

From there, intuitive, real-time dashboards provide a clear view of testing patterns throughout your organization. You can filter for specific types of testing, compare ordering trends for different locations and track progress to your stewardship goals. You can drill down into pre-built reports to see which providers are ordering tests outside of established guidelines and then use this information to tailor programs directed at the changes that will have the most impact on your health system and the patients within it.

The National Committee for Lab Stewardship recommends interventions that educate and guide and direct measures to eliminate waste, such as:

Educate

  • Provide regular updates on lab capabilities, appropriate use of new diagnostic tests, testing algorithms and tests approaching obsolescence.
  • Deliver information in a variety of ways to suit varied learning styles and habits, such as posters, newsletters, presentations and videos.

Guide

  • Use testing cascades, algorithms and best practice recommendations to implement standardized workflow processes that guide providers toward the most appropriate testing for the patient and reduce the number of inappropriate test orders.
  • Use automatic alerts when testing may be unnecessarily duplicative.
  • Provide feedback to healthcare providers regarding their ordering patterns.

Eliminate Waste

  • Establish a laboratory formulary that provides a concise list of appropriate testing and does not include obsolete or antiquated tests.
  • Identify tests requiring a consultation before ordering, such as complex genetic tests.
  • Provide applicable collection instructions alongside test orders to ensure specimen integrity.

Precision healthcare requires the right patient to have the right test and the right prescription. By using hc1 PrecisionDx Advisor to inject powerful, patient- and provider-specific insights into laboratory stewardship efforts, hc1 is breaking down barriers to reducing test misutilization and delivering precision healthcare for all patients. 

If you’re interested in seeing how hc1 PrecisionDx Advisor can help your organization take the guesswork out of running an effective test utilization program, request a demo today.

 

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Mackin Bannon is the Product Marketing Manager for hc1. Mackin held various roles covering nearly every marketing area before settling on product marketing as a focus and joining hc1 in 2022. 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.

By Mackin Bannon
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August 21, 2024

Outreach is an important piece of any successful laboratory. For reference or specialty laboratories, their whole business model is based on acquiring and retaining business from providers. For hospital laboratories, outreach programs can be essential for maximizing capacity and generating additional revenue in the face of rising costs and declining reimbursement.

However, for many labs, technology constraints make growing and managing their outreach programs a challenge. Data and processes are scattered across a variety of disconnected systems and spreadsheets, making it difficult for sales and service teams to collaborate on acquiring new business and ensuring customer satisfaction.

hc1 client M Health Fairview Reference Laboratories (MRL) has built a highly successful outreach program over the years, with over 1,500 active clients. In a recent hc1 webinar, Eric Razskazoff, MRL’s System Manager, Business Development, offered the following tips for growing and managing a lab outreach program.

Leverage Insights to Increase Revenue

Data insights on your clients, such as ordering history and revenue data, can be a great asset in growing your business with existing providers.

For example, MRL was trying to grow their allergy testing platform, but had a key client that wasn’t ordering any allergy testing. So they pulled ordering history and revenue data for similar clinics and presented this data to the client to make a business case for adding allergy testing.

“We were able to take information that we had in hc1 from a like client of ours and create some solutions to show the other client what they were missing out on and the money they were leaving on the table.”

Educate Providers to Optimize Test Ordering

These same data insights can also be used to educate providers on test ordering best practices. This can both free up capacity for your lab and improve patient care.

Some assisted living providers were over-ordering INRs from MRL. Not only did they lack the capacity and staffing to handle this testing, but it was unnecessary and negatively impacting patient care through patient discomfort, burdening front-line staff, billing denials and unnecessary downstream testing.

“hc1 gave us the insights needed to identify the providers that were over-ordering. We then partnered with a physician group to have a discussion on the ordering of labs overall, primarily INRs, and if there were better ways to utilize our services and find a win-win for the patients.”

Provide Proactive Customer Service

While it’s one thing to bring in new business, it’s equally important to provide strong, proactive customer service to retain that business.

Having comprehensive, real-time insights into client health, such as volume, turnaround time and client issues is key to getting ahead of problems before it’s too late. For example, MRL had a client that was continually sending incorrect billing information. With hc1, they were able to identify these issues and work with the client on a resolution.

“We wanted to provide that information to the client to say, ‘this is what we’re seeing.’ hc1 was able to help us see these issues so we could improve the process, not only for us, but for our client as well.”

Implement Easy-to-Use Technology

Each of the previous three tips are essential for labs to grow and manage their outreach programs. But without a comprehensive, easy-to-use technology platform to manage it all, reps will be stuck spending much of their time toggling between systems and carrying out manual workflows.

hc1 pulls labs’ disparate data sources into a single platform purpose built for clinical laboratories. With sales, service and operations able to access the data and workflows they need in a single platform, labs can eliminate inefficiencies. Plus, with hc1’s easy-to-use, modern interface, reps can get up to speed in no time.

“Reps on our client services team don’t necessarily have a lab background. And I don’t know that you need to have one when using hc1. It’s very simple to use and very user friendly. We use hc1 as our source of truth.”

Could you benefit from a single source of truth for your lab sales and service teams? A platform to help you grow and retain your business? If so, request a demo with an hc1 expert today to learn more about our analytics and CRM tools built for labs.

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Mackin Bannon is the Product Marketing Manager for hc1. Mackin held various roles covering nearly every marketing area before settling on product marketing as a focus and joining hc1 in 2022. 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.

By Mackin Bannon
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August 7, 2024

Many labs struggle to obtain the insights they need to run their business, for a variety of reasons. All too often, labs run on an array of siloed systems – the LIS, the billing system, the CRM – that don’t talk to one another and aren’t designed to provide robust lab analytics, enable effective outreach or manage customer service. 

Some labs may manage reporting and outreach manually in spreadsheets, a time-consuming process when there is little time to waste. Others may rely on teams outside the lab and hope they have time to get to their project. But these groups, such as IT, are stretched just as thin as the laboratory and often have to serve the entire organization.

What labs need is a technology solution that not only provides them the data and tools they need, but that enables them to self-serve. When lab leaders are enabled with robust analytics built for the lab that are quick and easy to access and allow for customization, it allows them to make timely, data-driven decisions to grow their business and improve patient care.

Thankfully, hc1 is able to provide that solution! Continue reading to learn more about how hc1 enables lab leaders to become their own data analyst with self-serve reporting built for the lab.

hc1 Gets the Lab

Part of what makes hc1 so unique is that we exclusively serve clinical laboratories. hc1 was created because our founder recognized that if labs could organize the vast amounts of powerful data they produce into actionable insights, they could be empowered to better manage operations, as well as personalize and advance care for all patients. 

Because of this, we understand laboratories both from a relational and technical perspective. We know labs’ struggles, goals and desires, because many of our employees are former laboratorians. And we’re masters of healthcare data and laboratories’ native data format, having served hundreds of lab locations and integrated with over 80 unique lab systems.

All Your Lab Data in One Place

hc1 tears down the data silos in your lab by aggregating your key lab data sources into a single, cloud-based environment. This eliminates those hours upon hours of manual data collection. Then, to power you up, we can integrate other data sources – billing, couriers, supplies, instrumentation, EMR – to help you surpass the limitations of these narrowly focused systems.

We also standardize and validate your data. Just like not all PR is good PR, not all data is good data. Data on tests or patient encounters in different systems doesn’t always line up. There can be inconsistencies between hospitals within a health system or lab departments within an organization. Messy data will produce messy results, so we ensure that your data is clean so you can gain accurate insights into your lab.

Robust, Real-Time Lab Reporting

Our suite of robust analytics tools goes far beyond what laboratory information systems, or even big-name analytics tools, can provide. Built for the lab from the ground up, hc1 unlocks your data’s vast potential by revealing actionable insights that enable you to drive superior performance and care.

With hc1, you no longer need to turn to IT or other teams for custom lab reporting – you have everything you need at your fingertips.

Become Your Own Data Analyst

However, for those times where you do want to go beyond what hc1’s standard dashboards provide, we offer hc1 Insights Builder. This tool enables you to design, build and manage custom dashboards and reports. Whether you want to copy and tweak one of our standard dashboards or create something from scratch, we give you the power to design data analytics to meet your needs – without needing advanced knowledge or expertise.

With Insights Builder, you don’t have to:

  • Pay exorbitant consulting fees to have a vendor expert come in and create custom reports.
  • Download and manipulate data in Excel, putting your organization at risk of a security breach.
  • Sit around and wait for other teams to get to your custom reporting request.

hc1 can serve as your lab’s single source of truth – the one place you can go to gain insight into all areas of your business. No more siloed data. No more manual processes. No more reliance on other teams to get you the information you need to succeed. To see how hc1 can help you become your own data analyst, request a demo with an hc1 expert today.

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Mackin Bannon is the Product Marketing Manager for hc1. Mackin held various roles covering nearly every marketing area before settling on product marketing as a focus and joining hc1 in 2022. 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.

By Mackin Bannon
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July 24, 2024

The hc1 Engineering team has been hard at work over the first half of the year. On top of a lot of important back-end work to ensure the performance and stability of our solutions for years to come, we have also made some significant (and much requested) upgrades and released a brand new add-on solution!

Here are the highlights from our first half releases and product updates.

NEW Blood Utilization Solution

Over the last couple years we’ve heard a lot of feedback from health system and hospital labs that monitoring blood utilization is a difficult task. The data needed to perform meaningful analysis isn’t available in any single system, so labs have to manually pull data and conduct analysis in spreadsheets, an inefficient and ineffective process when resources are already stretched thin.

hc1 Blood Utilization consolidates blood data into a single system to give hospital labs a comprehensive view of key blood usage metrics, enabling lab leaders to take targeted action and track progress over time. Two cloud-based, near-real-time dashboards include high-level key performance indicators, detailed trending reports and filters for providers, specialties and ordering locations. This solution automates the reporting process, giving labs immediate insight into blood usage metrics without any manual effort.

Learn more about the solution here.

Saved Filters

hc1 dashboards offer a slew of robust filters, which many of our users use to monitor a specific set of criteria on a daily basis. A department head may track turnaround time for their department and specific tests. A customer service rep may track issues with just the set of clients they serve. However, historically, hc1 did not offer the ability to save these filters for future use. Users had to manually set them every time they opened a dashboard, or create copies of the dashboard with different default filters.

Well, we’re happy to announce that one of our most requested features is here: saved filters! Available on ALL hc1 dashboards and analytics, users now have the ability to save frequently used filter selections and quickly apply them whenever they’re needed. You can even save multiple sets of filters on an individual dashboard and toggle between them. This will greatly speed up day-to-day analysis of your data and operations within hc1.

hc1 clients can learn more about Saved Filters in hc1 Academy.

Workforce Optimization Updates

Since launching Workforce Optimization at the beginning of the year, we have continued to refine and update the solution based on feedback from our development partner, American Oncology Network, and others. 

One of the most significant updates so far is an enhanced UI/UX experience across the entire Workforce Optimization dashboard. An enhanced design and new color-coding provides improved readability of all metrics. We have also made updates to our algorithms and AI prediction model to improve the accuracy of reports and staffing recommendations. These include accounting for days where a lab department is closed and adding an “Exclude” flag for employees who do not contribute to processing specimens or test volume.

Want to see Workforce Optimization in action? Request a demo here.

Service Select 2.0

If you’re an hc1 client, chances are you’re very familiar with hc1 Service Select. Service Select provides you access to hc1 experts to help expand and enhance your hc1 solutions to optimize outcomes. However, experience of using Service Select had room for improvement.

With Service Select 2.0, hc1 Support and hc1 Service Select interactions are now combined in a single portal for our customers. This streamlines the experience of working with our Services team. The new portal also integrates directly with Jira for better visibility and tracking of all new requests, so we can start assisting you more quickly.

hc1 clients can learn more about Service Select in hc1 Academy.

 

If you’re not a current hc1 client but want to learn more about these features and solutions, as well as everything else we have to offer, request a demo with an hc1 expert today.

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Mackin Bannon is the Product Marketing Manager for hc1. Mackin held various roles covering nearly every marketing area before settling on product marketing as a focus and joining hc1 in 2022. 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.

By Mackin Bannon
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June 5, 2024

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies is a hot topic currently, including in the context of clinical laboratories. Understanding AI technologies and their applications is essential for laboratories to improve efficiency and integrate into broader health ecosystems. Incorporating AI and ML into strategic planning can also unlock substantial advantages for clinical labs in today’s evolving landscape. 

However, for lab leaders and managers seeking to harness the potential of AI and ML, it’s imperative to understand how to effectively embrace these advancements to ensure successful implementation. This blog post will provide examples of practical applications of AI and ML in clinical labs and address the essential steps needed to prepare for and fully embrace AI investments.

Defining Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Before diving into how labs can utilize AI and ML, it is important to define these two terms to level set and ensure mutual understanding.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the science of making machines that can think like humans. It can do things that are considered “smart.” AI technology can process large amounts of data in ways unlike humans. The goal for AI is to be able to do things such as recognize patterns, make decisions and judge like humans. 

Machine learning (ML) is a branch of artificial intelligence and computer science that focuses on using data and algorithms for AI to imitate the way that humans learn, gradually improving accuracy.

Applications of AI and ML for Clinical Labs

There are a multitude of ways that clinical laboratories can implement artificial intelligence and machine learning into their operations. These applications fall into three primary categories.

Clinical Decision Support

Machine learning models can learn from health data to predict patient needs and suggest effective treatments. They can also analyze large datasets to identify gaps or cases where improper treatment may be occuring. For example, hc1’s PrecisionDx Advisor solution uses an enterprise-scale rules engine to surface unnecessary testing, such as duplicate or obsolete testing, to help laboratory stewardship teams target efforts to reduce test misutilization.

Operational Excellence

AI technology can help labs aim for excellence in laboratory operations. Repetitive tasks can be automated, reducing errors and freeing up staff to focus on more strategic activities. Large scale projects like mapping compendiums can be completely automated using ML. Developments like digital pathology can help pathologists turn tests around faster while enhancing precision and accuracy.

Resource Optimization

Labs can also leverage AI and ML to overcome resource limitations. Data-backed demand forecasting can help labs ensure staff and resources are optimized for expected volume. Taking that a step further, predictive staffing recommendations – like those provided by hc1 Workforce Optimization – can help ensure the right staff are in the right place at the right time.

Methodical Approach to Implementing AI and ML Technology

When implementing any new lab technology, it’s important to have the right foundations in place to effectively utilize and fully benefit from the solution. This includes systems, processes and data. This is especially important with AI and ML – without good data, any solution utilizing AI and ML will be completely ineffective.

The hc1 Laboratory Performance Maturity Model is a 5-step approach that helps lab leaders assess their current technological state and create a methodical plan to build up systems and processes to achieve optimal performance.

  1. Data Fundamentals & Infrastructure: Install data governance, processes, normalization and standards.
  2. Operations & Visibility: Systematize and automate lab performance analytics and customer-facing business operations.
  3. Data Driven Decisions: Data and analytics inform critical decision making. Lab leadership can innovate and drive data insights without IT dependency.
  4. Advanced Tech Capabilities: Lab leaders have advanced tools to optimize lab operations and have evidence-based data to influence system leadership to drive clinical best practices.
  5. Predict and Impact the Future: Lab leaders use technology to anticipate trends, issues and opportunities and proactively address future business and clinical conditions.

It is at this fifth level that laboratories are ready to truly see maximum impact from AI and ML technologies.

5 Steps to Implement the Right AI Formula

The digital revolution is not a dream of tomorrow – as we see, it is already well underway, and lab leaders and managers need to prepare their labs today. To set their labs up for long-term success and innovation, lab leaders should consider the following steps:

  1. Data: Set up the data lake and infrastructure needed to maximize the impact of AI and ML technologies.
  2. Resources: Address resource limitations to ensure there is budget and staff capacity available to invest in new technologies.
  3. Technology: Invest in infrastructure and technology to support lab digitalization and interconnection, including automation systems and data accessibility tools.
  4. Organization: Build readiness for change with visionary leadership. Prioritize training and upskilling of staff to manage and interpret data from digital technologies.
  5. Implementation: Ensure goal alignment across the organization. Establish success metrics to measure results. Continually focus on process improvement.

There are a multitude of ways labs can adopt AI and ML technologies today and derive immediate benefits in care delivery and operational efficiency. Lab leaders that leverage AI for competitive advantage, plan for long-term adoption and stay informed on advancements can position their labs for future success, enhance patient outcomes and reduce costs.

If you’re interested in incorporating AI and ML into your lab but don’t know where to start, reach out to hc1 and allow us to help you determine the right approach.

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Mackin Bannon is the product marketing manager for hc1. Mackin held various roles covering nearly every marketing area before settling on product marketing as a focus and joining hc1 in 2022. 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.

By Mackin Bannon
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May 22, 2024

Over 2.3 trillion gigabytes of data are generated every year in healthcare. Equal to: 

One key place where the value of this data can be realized is in the lab. For over a decade hc1 has been transforming lab data into personalized healthcare insights. One key thing that we’ve discovered is that the best way for labs to achieve both internal operational efficiency, provide exceptional customer service and grow their business is to centralize all of those functions in a single platform. 

Based on our experience, here are three of the biggest challenges your lab can overcome with a single lab insights platform that can help increase your lab’s value.

1. Data Silos

All too often, laboratories are managed by various departments running a myriad of disparate data systems and silos – making the prospect of capturing a comprehensive client view a daunting proposition. LIS, billing, sales and client service systems collectively store an abundance of critical data. The hunt for key information is spread among multiple locations, which often results in two unfortunate situations: 

  • An inefficient resolution is put into place because the root cause is too difficult to pinpoint.
  • Too much time passes during the process of hunting down data, causing an already strained relationship to progress to “crisis mode.”

While most labs have access to an abundance of data that can guide decisions and help identify reasons for issues, the challenge typically lies in promptly and easily making sense of this information. Some labs employ teams of analysts to compile and review data from multiple sources. Client issues could be completely overlooked due to the disconnect between top level or roll-up data and what is actually happening on a per-client basis.

Having a real-time, transparent view across IT solutions and departments can make a world of difference in managing client relationships. After all, clients expect great, consistent service the majority of the time and want prompt, correct answers or plans when things veer off track.

2. Delayed Issue Tracking 

A typical lab’s quality review cycle occurs every 90 to 120 days, and the reports that are reviewed are typically manually compiled in arrears. Thus, client issues often go unresolved for weeks or even months, during which time the client may engage with a competitor. In a highly competitive healthcare landscape, labs can’t afford to lack a clear, real-time view of all client issues. What happens, for example, if a lab realizes a significant volume decline in an account 6 months after the fact? With real-time insight into critical accounts, managers would have been able to recognize the downward trend in time to take proactive action.

To remove delays in issue tracking and resolution, team members must have access to:

  • A real-time, 360-degree view of important client communications and activity history.
  • Real-time notifications that alert the appropriate team members to changes in order volume, revenues, turnaround time or outstanding issues that are due for resolution.
  • Easy-to-use dashboards that display up-to-the-moment client status, issues and concerns.

With a holistic, real-time view of every client in a central location, labs also have the peace of mind that expansion and new business opportunities stay at the forefront. By providing proactive service and quickly resolving issues, labs can free up more time to spend visiting key clients and discovering needs that translate into additional revenue.

3. Lack of Real-Time Provider Insights

Many laboratory sales and outreach teams use a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to manage provider relationships and track new opportunities. However, these tools either do not integrate with lab data sources or require costly consultations and significant customization to do so. Meanwhile, other labs are still managing their outreach using spreadsheets and email.

Either way, these labs lack valuable, real-time insight into provider ordering trends and issues. Without this data, sales teams are left flying blind when engaging with providers. Reps may be susceptible to being blindsided by unresolved issues and don’t have the information they need to target their sales efforts.

A lab insights platform that combines CRM functionality with comprehensive, real-time lab data gives lab outreach teams the insights necessary to focus their sales and marketing campaigns where they have the most impact. Labs seeking to expand their footprint with current clients now have everything they need for maximum growth:

  • Insight into which tests are most commonly ordered and by whom.
  • Visibility into ordering activity by time and specialty.
  • The ability to focus on specialties ordering most frequently and with the most billable tests per requisition.
  • The tools to track changes in order volume by physician, ordering location and specialty to know when an account may be at risk.

These patterns and insights serve as a guide for profiling new opportunities. The sales team is then able to use targeted marketing resources in order to educate the practice on additional services. 

Next Steps

A critical step in a lab’s journey to reach its full potential is to remove data silos and organize lab data in such a way that actionable insights can be derived and then clearly communicated. All the data is almost useless without a method to ingest, organize and normalize it into actionable information that is meaningful for providers and patients. 

Through our proprietary cloud-based technology, hc1 is able to deliver easily adoptable, scalable solutions that enable organizations to overcome knowledge and workflow barriers to achieve their goals.

The hc1 Lab Insights Platform™ helps laboratories better serve providers and patients by enabling quick access to the insights needed to improve how they manage internal and external processes and relationships.

Are you ready to get started on unifying your lab’s data in a single platform? Request a demo of our hc1 Operations Management Solution™ today.

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Mackin Bannon is the product marketing manager for hc1. Mackin held various roles covering nearly every marketing area before settling on product marketing as a focus and joining hc1 in 2022. 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.

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