May 6, 2025
Clinical laboratories are the bedrock of healthcare, providing essential data that drives up to 70% of medical decisions. Yet, many labs today grapple with significant operational hurdles, often stemming from a lack of access to real-time, actionable data. In a recent hc1 webinar, experts Kelly Lucas, Client Engagement Executive, and Jennifer Maxwell, Executive Director, Client Success, delved into these challenges with me and discussed how health systems and lab leaders can achieve operational excellence by viewing the lab as a strategic asset.
The Data Disconnect in Lab Operations
Despite generating vast amounts of data for patient diagnostics, a significant gap exists in how effectively labs utilize data for their own operational management. A survey cited in the webinar revealed that only 12% of lab professionals have access to data analytics across all of their operations, and a mere 26% of those have access to real-time data. This lack of real-time insight hinders forward-thinking decision-making, impacting everything from process improvement and staffing to cost reduction.
“By not being able to have real time insight into data, it really puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to forward thinking – improving processes, looking at staffing, helping to reduce cost – because everything that they’re looking at is not real-time.”
–Kelly Lucas
Without immediate visibility into performance, labs are often reactive, addressing issues only after they’ve impacted turnaround time, strained resources, or incurred expenses.
Addressing Core Challenges: Workflows, Staffing, and Cost
The primary challenges facing laboratory leaders – inefficient workflows, persistent staffing shortages, and relentless cost pressures – have remained consistent over recent years. Making the best use of existing technical staff is crucial, especially in an environment where labor constraints make it challenging to keep up with varying workloads throughout the day and across different testing areas. Furthermore, controlling costs remains an everyday priority – healthcare and laboratory leaders are faced with the challenge of lowering costs across the board while still driving additional value.
Strategic Asset vs. Ancillary Service
To truly overcome these challenges and drive innovation, labs must transition from being viewed as an ancillary service to being recognized as a strategic asset within the healthcare system. This means bringing the lab to the forefront and highlighting the immense value it delivers in driving patient care and supporting the financial performance of the organization.
“Viewing the lab as a strategic asset really means that labs need to bring themselves from being an ancillary service, or a ‘nice to have,’ to really being at the forefront as an essential service. We are a ‘must have’ and we are helping drive patient care.”
–Kelly Lucas
hc1 approaches lab optimization comprehensively, focusing on both strategy and operations. Our Strategic Advisory team helps executives understand various opportunities and their complex financial implications, while our Operations Management team assists in executing those strategies. This dual focus ensures that large-picture financial goals are supported by efficient day-to-day operations.
Optimizing Supply Chain Management
Along with labor expenses, supply chain costs have become a significant area of focus for healthcare systems, having increased rapidly in recent years. Healthcare expenses are outpacing inflation, and lab expenses specifically are increasing at an even faster rate. Effective supply chain management in the lab is therefore crucial for operational and financial health.
hc1 has a team of experts dedicated to healthcare supply chain management who work to help clients save significantly on lab supply, equipment, and reference testing costs. Our team leverages lab expertise, proprietary benchmarking, skilled negotiation, and strong vendor relationships built on trust, to secure the best possible prices for clients.
The Power of a Comprehensive Platform and Expertise
hc1 offers a comprehensive solution that combines both technology and advisory services to address the multifaceted needs of the laboratory. Across the platform, several key solutions are:
- hc1 Performance Analytics, which provides real-time visibility into volume, turnaround time, spend, and productivity
- hc1 Service Advantage, which enables resolution of quality and service issues, along with trending data on performance
- hc1 Workforce Optimization, which uses AI and machine learning to provide volume projections and staffing recommendations, based on historical volumes and HRIS data
- hc1 Sendout Management, which provides a single view of all reference testing to analyze cost, volumes, and turnaround time performance
Complementing the technology is our team of experienced laboratorians who act as trusted advisors, helping clients achieve significant results.
“We can’t just focus on the technology component. It takes a combination of all three: people, process, and technology. I think it’s important to note that hc1 is not just an analytics platform, we’re not just technology, and we’re not just a group of consultants coming in to complete a project. We are a comprehensive solution that is able to deliver across all the needs of the laboratory.”
–Jennifer Maxwell
The Journey to Continued Excellence
Operational excellence in the lab is not a destination, but an ongoing journey. Labs that prioritize this journey, leveraging data and embracing change, become more efficient, effective, and better equipped to handle challenges. The future of lab operations will undoubtedly involve increased adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and further innovation. By focusing on operational excellence, health systems and clinical laboratory leaders can not only improve financial performance but also enhance patient outcomes, reinforcing the lab’s critical role as the cornerstone of healthcare.
Through the effective utilization of real-time analytics and automation, labs can optimize quality and service, reduce cost, and increase efficiency – all without increasing staff workload. To learn more about hc1’s suite of Operational Excellence solutions, watch our recent webinar on-demand.
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Katie Benyo has almost twenty years of experience in healthcare and performance improvement. As Vice President of hc1’s Lab Operational Excellence pillar, she assumes an executive leadership role focused on the Go To Market strategy for this portfolio of solutions. Prior to joining hc1 in 2016, Katie was most recently a Senior Performance Improvement Specialist for a multi-institutional healthcare system. She holds a Bachelor’s in Community Health from the University of Illinois, and a Master of Health Administration from Saint Louis University. She is a NAHQ-Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), an ASQ-Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer through AHRQ, and holds a Certificate in Laboratory Quality Management Systems from CLSI. A thought leader in her field, Katie has given over 90 podium presentations, webinars, guest lectures, etc. on healthcare performance improvement, and she has published nine articles on related topics.
