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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.

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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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.

hc1 Performance Analytics provides deep analysis on volume, turnaround time, spend and more.
hc1 PrecisionDx Advisor delivers advanced test utilization insights that help you reduce unnecessary testing.
hc1 Workforce Optimization uses predictive analytics to project future volume trends and provide actionable staff scheduling recommendations.
We even offer dashboards for optimizing sendouts and monitoring blood utilization.

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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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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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.

Data Fundamentals & Infrastructure: Install data governance, processes, normalization and standards.
Operations & Visibility: Systematize and automate lab performance analytics and customer-facing business operations.
Data Driven Decisions: Data and analytics inform critical decision making. Lab leadership can innovate and drive data insights without IT dependency.
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.
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:

Data: Set up the data lake and infrastructure needed to maximize the impact of AI and ML technologies.
Resources: Address resource limitations to ensure there is budget and staff capacity available to invest in new technologies.
Technology: Invest in infrastructure and technology to support lab digitalization and interconnection, including automation systems and data accessibility tools.
Organization: Build readiness for change with visionary leadership. Prioritize training and upskilling of staff to manage and interpret data from digital technologies.
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.

May 22, 2024

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

1.2x the amount of currency in circulation in the United States
1,000x the amount of heartbeats the average human will have in their lifetime
Over 20x the amount of people that have ever existed on earth
20x the amount of stars in the milky way galaxy
The amount of steps it would take to walk around the world 35,000 times
760 times the amount of base pairs in the human genome

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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May 7, 2024

hc1 Workforce Optimization™ is a first-of-its-kind solution that leverages the power of artificial intelligence to help lab leaders make better, faster, more confident staff scheduling decisions. However, with such a novel product comes lots of questions: What is it? How does it work? Is this solution right for our lab?

Good news: we have answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Workforce Optimization.

Q: Is Workforce Optimization a staffing / recruiting tool?
A: No, Workforce Optimization is a cloud-based software solution that uses artificial intelligence to predict demand for lab services and provide staff scheduling recommendations.

Q: Will I be able to use this as a replacement for my laboratory scheduling system?
A: No. Workforce Optimization is designed to work in tandem with your HRIS, such as Kronos, Workday, ADP, etc. It is not a replacement for these systems. The solution studies both your lab volume and HRIS data, then leverages artificial intelligence to project future volume trends, identify potential staffing shortages or overages and suggest specific, department-level resource adjustments.

Q: Do we need to have a large lab staff for this to be the right solution for us?
A: No. hc1 Workforce Optimization will provide powerful insights, recommendations and business impact regardless if you are a smaller, 50-person lab or a multi-site system with over 1,000 lab employees.

Q: Can we use this product across multiple labs? How does that work?
A: Yes! Many of our customers are multi-site. So regardless of how many performing labs you have, such core labs, satellite labs or hospital-based labs, you will be able to view all of them or filter down to a specific location to understand your staffing optimization.

Q: Which systems do you connect to?
A: We can connect to any LIS or HRIS – we have successfully interfaced with 80 unique systems! We started out as a company that built interfaces and became masters of healthcare data before developing the solutions that use it. If you can provide the data to us, our team takes care of the rest.

Q: Is it a problem if we have multiple LISs or multiple HRISs?
A: No. hc1 can combine multiple LIS data feeds through our hc1 Connect integration engine. Similarly, if you have multiple HRIS platforms, those data feeds can also be combined to get an enterprise-wide view in hc1.

Q: Can my team be notified if we have a specific staffing issue?
A: Yes! You can set up and customize email alerts to go out to specific team members when certain metrics are met or exceeded. This allows lab managers, leaders and executives to perform their day-to-day responsibilities, with the knowledge that they will be notified if there is a problem.

Q: Should I be concerned about leaving my lab staff scheduling decisions to AI?
A: Not at all! Workforce Optimization uses what we like to call “human-assisted” AI. While our machine learning model does make demand predictions and staffing recommendations, there is still a human element required to adjust staff schedules. The solution doesn’t automatically update staff schedules or communicate changes back to the HRIS. This gives you the opportunity to review each recommendation and ensure employees’ schedules are adjusted appropriately.

Interested in learning more about Workforce Optimization? Request a demo today to see how it can help you resolve staffing shortages before they happen by ensuring the right people are in the right place at the right time.

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March 20, 2024

Clinical laboratories could be identified as the heart of any health system, as lab testing is the single highest-volume medical activity. However, labs are currently facing numerous threats that are placing a significant amount of stress on both organizations and lab professionals.

From staffing and supply shortages to higher costs and declining reimbursement, here are the top six trends putting clinical labs under stress.

Rising demand

Demand for diagnostic testing continues to rise, spurred by an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and an aging population. In 2021, the Medicare program spent $9.3 billion on laboratory tests, marking a record 17 percent increase from the previous year. Noncommunicable diseases are widespread, particularly in the United States, where nearly 60% of adults live with at least one chronic condition. Globally, the aging population is also growing; the share of the global population aged 65 and older is projected to rise from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050. At that point, it is expected that the number of persons aged 65 years or over worldwide will be more than twice the number of children under age 5 and about the same as the number under age 12. In turn, the global clinical laboratory service market size is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% from 2023 to 2030.

Higher complexity

Molecular and other advanced testing types firmly established a foothold in laboratories in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the value of PCR testing for infectious diseases has been widely recognized, laboratories are increasingly expected to expand the scope of their existing testing capabilities to include more analytes and observations. Demand for genetic testing is also increasing. By November 2022, U.S. physicians could choose from 129,624 genetic tests to order. These new tests can be highly complex and require new techniques, expensive reagents and equipment, as well as advanced skill sets.

Lower reimbursement

Labs may have more work to do but are getting paid less for it. They gained another year’s reprieve from significant Medicare reimbursement cuts as Congress delayed both PAMA cuts and a scheduled price data reporting period but saw drops in reimbursement from private payers as many took advantage of the 2022 rollout of the No Surprises Act to cut rates based on the newly visible pricing.

Higher costs

Overall, market prices for lab supplies, equipment and labor are increasing. Lab equipment and IT software prices are projected to increase an average of 4.2% from January 2023 to December 2023, while reagent, energy and labor costs are also expected to increase. Clinical labor costs are projected to grow 6 to 10 percent in 2023-24, about three to seven percentage points above the prevailing rate of inflation.

Supply shortages

The COVID-19 global pandemic brought with it lasting effects on the U.S. healthcare system, including numerous supply chain shortages impacting the availability of collection devices, reagents and other critical lab supplies. While many supply chain issues have been resolved, warehouse and port capacity shortages, as well as logistics staffing shortages, continue to cause disruptions in many areas. Through the summer of 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Medical Device Shortages List continued to include numerous specimen collection devices, transport media, laboratory reagents and testing supplies.

Staffing shortages

A shortage of approximately 20,000–25,000 laboratory staff is severely impacting U.S. laboratories, with overall vacancy rates highest for chemistry/toxicology departments at 12.7%. Understaffing in the laboratory not only threatens turnaround time and quality, but also worker satisfaction. A 2023 Wage and Morale Survey conducted by Lighthouse Lab Services found that staffing levels and satisfaction were closely linked. Among the 67% of respondents who reported their labs were moderately or significantly understaffed, 41% described themselves as extremely or moderately unsatisfied in their role.

How can clinical laboratories overcome these issues while also improving patient care? Lab data. When labs combine their expertise with an effective technology strategy, they can proactively remove data silos and unlock the hidden value in lab data to optimize operations and inform testing and treatment decisions. Request a demo today to see how hc1 can help your lab extract invaluable insights from your data to solve your biggest challenges.

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Staffing is one of the biggest challenges facing laboratories today. Over the last several years many labs have lost staff for a variety of reasons, from burnout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to increasing rates of retirement. When combined with a declining number of training programs, the result is a critical shortage of medical laboratory professionals.

There are three primary factors contributing to this laboratory staffing challenge.

1. Staffing shortages

A 2022 Wage and Morale Survey conducted by Lighthouse Lab Services found that 40% of lab professionals indicated their lab was moderately understaffed, while another 33% described their lab as significantly understaffed. Just 27% of respondents felt their lab was adequately or well-staffed.

In total, this amounts to a shortage of approximately 20,000-25,000 laboratory staff across U.S. laboratories, or roughly one medical laboratory scientist per 1,000 people.

2. Lack of new lab professionals

One cause of these increasing lab staffing shortages is that the number of new laboratory technologists and technicians isn’t keeping up with the pace of those retiring or leaving the industry. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics “projects a nationwide need for a 13% average increase in medical laboratory technologists and technicians between 2016 and 2026, nearly double the underlying average increase in all occupations of 7%.”

A major factor is that the number of laboratory training programs is declining. There are approximately 240 medical laboratory technician and scientist training programs in the United States, a 7% drop from 2000, and some states have no training programs.

With the laboratory personnel labor force aging at a 78 percent faster rate than the entire United States labor market, it is critical that the lab industry finds a way to train current staff and increase the number of new laboratory professionals entering the market.

3. Staff burnout

A recent survey by the American Society for Clinical Pathology found that 85.3% of respondents reported having felt burnout as a laboratory professional. About half of those respondents that felt burnout reported this as a current issue, with 69.3% considering changing careers completely or retiring in response.

The top issues contributing to the burnout of laboratory professionals are lack of adequate staffing (36.5%) and heavy workload and pressure to complete all testing (31.5%), indicating a strong correlation between staffing shortages and burnout.

The impact

These staffing shortages have placed a continuing burden on lab professionals to do more with less. Lab leaders are being asked to produce higher testing volumes and generate faster turnaround times, all while ensuring employees are happy to drive retention. However, labs are being given the impossible task of doing all this with fewer staff, not to mention ever-reducing budgets and continued supply constraints.

The solution: hc1 Workforce Optimization™

The good news is that hc1 can help labs overcome these staffing challenges! Our Workforce Optimization solution helps labs resolve staffing shortages before they happen by using AI to predict demand for lab services and provide staff scheduling recommendations.

By predicting demand for lab services department-by-department across the organization, Workforce Optimization enables lab leaders to proactively identify potential shortages or overages, adjust staffing assignments accordingly and monitor the business impact of changes over time.

Interested in learning more about how Workforce Optimization? Request a demo today to discuss how we can work together to enable you to make better, faster, more confident staff scheduling decisions.

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February 7, 2024

According to a report from the American Hospital Association, over half of hospitals ended 2022 operating at a financial loss, primarily due to hospital expense growth outpacing Medicare reimbursement by about 10 percent.

To combat these financial challenges, health systems are looking for ways to “launch new lines of business, add new services and find ways to differentiate,” according to Optum. Their survey of 150 healthcare leaders found that 49 percent consider growth one of the industry’s top challenges.

“Hospital-based labs across the United States are forging ahead with their lab outreach services in ways that generate many benefits,” said Jane Hermansen, manager of outreach and network development at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, in an interview with Dark Daily.

Helping physicians deliver better care

Because of their community-based locations, health system and hospital-based labs can gain a superior level of trust with providers and patients.

“Hospital laboratories are uniquely positioned to deliver value to the physicians and other providers in the towns and regions they serve,” said a recent Dark Daily article. “The obvious benefit is that the lab, its employees and its clinical pathologists all live in the community. They have professional relationships that may go back decades with the physicians who order medical laboratory tests for their patients.”

Additionally, many health system labs have available capacity and, due to being local, can turn around results faster. Often they can run tests and report results on the same day samples are received. Plus, when a hospital-based lab performs both inpatient and outpatient testing for a patient over years, providers can see their entire lab test history and gain a better understanding of that patient’s overall health.

Providing a competitive advantage

Health system labs can provide significant advantages to providers over external reference laboratories. In addition to the level of trust and fast turnaround times mentioned previously, hospital-based outreach labs can use their own lab data to provide additional value.

“When lab data is combined with patient demographics and other sets of data, an outreach laboratory can develop clinically actionable intelligence that helps physicians and health insurers improve patient care, while lowering the total cost of care,” said the aforementioned Dark Daily article. “When packaged correctly, these enriched data offerings can generate a new source of revenue for lab outreach programs.”

Having a robust analytics tool beyond what your electronic health record (EHR) or laboratory information system (LIS) is essential to delivering these types of insights. hc1 Performance Analytics™ connects your disparate lab data sources, such as LIS, billing and EHR, to deliver actionable, real-time insights via dashboards and reports designed specifically for the lab.

Emphasizing customer relationship management

Labs looking to grow their outreach programs will benefit from increasing focus on customer relationship management. Feedback on service quality, turnaround times and any issues that may arise will help enhance the partnership over time.

A robust operations and customer relationship management (CRM) solution integrated with the laboratory information system (LIS) using a real-time HL7 interface can provide the actionable insights and data necessary to target and engage prospects and service existing outreach clients.

hc1 clients leveraging hc1 Operations Management™ and hc1 Performance Analytics™ have grown their outreach labs by as much as 90% in less than five years. Read this past hc1 blog post for five things contributing to their success.

Managing and growing a laboratory outreach program is essential to many health systems. Leveraging a robust operations and customer relationship management solution like hc1’s can provide valuable account health and client insights. Request a demo today to discuss how we can work together to grow your lab outreach program in the new year.

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